Comes And Goes
by Hidge
Summary: Sequel to For The First Time. After the plane crash, April and Jackson try to find their happily ever after while dealing with the appearance of new faces at Seattle Grace, the return of some old ones, their new lives as attendings, and meddling families and friends. Please R&R!
1. I've Missed You

**A/N: So, here is the sequel. I suppose that it is AU since Season 9 will most likely be nothing like this story, although I do hope that we get some wonderful Japril moments. Otherwise, I will be indescribably disappointed. Lol.**

**I hope that you enjoy and remember that this is an un-betaed work.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's...I wish I did. Lol.**

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**Chapter 1 – I've Missed You**

April Kepner stepped into the apartment that she shared with Alex Karev and Jackson Avery and groaned as she dropped her keys into the bowl on the small table beside the door. She was so tired that she could barely move. It was a miracle that she had gotten from her car to her home.

She knew that Alex was still at the hospital, he was working the night shift, but Jackson had left before her. He should be home yet none of the lights were on. Maybe he had gone to Joe's.

"Jackson? Are you here?" She called out.

"Yup! I'm in here!"

April's face screwed up in confusion as she heard his voice from the end of the hallway. She dropped her bag off in her room before she walked towards the bathroom. She was so stunned that she didn't make it any farther than the doorway. The light was off in the bathroom as well but the room was illuminated by candles. Her boyfriend…correction fiancé…was sitting on the edge of the bathtub and he had just turned on the water.

"What are you doing?"

He walked towards her and grinned. "Setting the mood."

"For your bath?" She asked with a laugh.

"Our bath," he corrected. He grabbed the lapels of her jacket and pulled her to him for a quick kiss. "You need to slow down and unwind."

She smiled against his lips. "You may be the perfect man."

"I'm trying," he replied earnestly.

"Get in the tub," she told him with an impish smile. "I'll be back in a second."

April left the bathroom and Jackson proceeded to remove his clothing. He waited until the tub was full of hot water and bubbles from the liquid bubble bath he had added before he slipped in. He couldn't remember the last time that he had actually taken a bath but it was romantic and intimate without being overtly sexual. Tonight wasn't about sex. He had planned this for April because she really did need to unwind.

It had been a week and a half since the accident and things at Seattle Grace Mercy West had been hectic. He, April, and Alex had all been working extra hard and pulling tonnes of overtime to compensate for how short staffed they were. They were handling their own patients and caseloads, and checking on their friends and colleagues. April seemed excessively dedicated to pulling her weight and he was concerned that she wasn't sleeping or eating enough. Their work schedules were the most opposite that they had ever been. They napped in the on-call room together when they found the time but they barely had a chance to spend any time together while they were awake. They ate lunch together when they could but other than that it was just a brief encounter in the hallway or at a nurses' station. They were practically living at the hospital and their up and coming vacation time was certainly needed.

He had also been spending a lot of time with Sloan. He had paid frequent visits to his room and since he had been released from the hospital, he made it a point to drop by his apartment regularly. He didn't crowd him or pressure him to talk; Sloan had been very quiet since the first night that he woke up. Mostly he just brought over food and they watched television while spending time with Sofia. He was there just in case the man did feel like opening up. After all, he had been the other man in Lexie Grey's life; he was the only one who could possibly relate to Sloan.

April had taken it upon herself to help however she could. She watched Zola for Meredith. If she wasn't at the hospital then she was cooking for anyone and everyone. She had even helped with Lexie's funeral, which had been agonizing.

It had also been a week and a half since he had asked her to marry him and they needed some time alone to relax and talk. They have not had a lot of opportunities to talk about wedding plans or living arrangements, things that he surprisingly really wanted to discuss. The one thing that they had established was that they were keeping their engagement a secret for a little while longer, probably until they started their fellowships. The only person that knew about them was Sloan. Jackson wouldn't have felt right keeping it from him and one day Sloan had asked him point blank.

April returned to the bathroom in her robe and she had pulled her hair up into a bun. He smiled when she visibly flushed as she took the garment off. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her naked body. The way that the candlelight reflected off of her pale skin was captivating.

"Stop blushing, you're beautiful."

"That just makes me blush even more," she said as she stepped into the tub.

He pulled her down to sit between his legs and she moaned as she sunk down into the hot water. She could already feel her muscles relaxing. "God, this was a good idea."

"I have one every now and then," he quipped. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. "It's nice to just spend some time together outside of the hospital."

"Yeah it is," she agreed as she leaned back against his chest.

His hands found hers gripping the edge of the tub and he entwined their fingers. "So, when do you want to get married? Summer? Fall? Spring?" He questioned with a smile.

"Um…I haven't really thought about it," she answered honestly. She had been rather distracted lately.

"Really?" He laughed. "You're a woman, haven't you been thinking about this your whole life?"

She chuckled, "I guess, but all of that kinda went out the window when I turned twenty-six and realized that I'd only had one boyfriend up to that point. I figured it would be a while before I got married so I stopped thinking about it."

"Well start thinking about it again," he teased.

"Okay," she smiled. She thought for a moment before she posed the question to him. "When do you want to get married?"

Jackson smiled to himself, he would get married tomorrow. "I don't want to have a long engagement."

"Me either, but enough time to plan things."

"What about September?" He proposed. "Early September, before the weather gets too bad."

She turned her head to the side to kiss his cheek. "September sounds nice."

His lips found hers and he kissed her softly. "Here. Small. Just friends and family." His hands fell into the water and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "In a church."

"That sounds nice," she repeated.

As a young girl, she had imagined a large wedding in a church. She still wanted to get married in a church but she was over the idea of a large, elaborate wedding. Libby and Kimmy had had big weddings, and Alice had gotten married on a beach in the Caribbean. She wanted to have a small and intimate wedding in a church in Seattle. Just like he said.

She reached behind her and slipped an arm around his neck in order to press her mouth harder against his. He tilted his head to intensify the kiss and she shivered. It seemed like it had been so long since they had kissed like this, and way too long since they had made love. They still hadn't been together since their reconciliation. And he had been sweeter and more considerate than usual this past week. He brought her coffee and snacks, and made sure that she was sleeping enough. Normally, someone constantly checking up on her would annoy her but Jackson did it with such love and sincerity that it was impossible to be bothered by it. He had truly earned her trust back; she wouldn't have agreed to marry him otherwise.

"Jackson," she whispered, "let's go to bed."

He frowned. "The water is still warm."

She grinned; he was usually much more perceptive. "Jackson, let's go to bed," she repeated.

He studied her for a moment. Her eyes, which seemed to change colour on a daily basis, were now a dark hazel and her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth. She didn't want to go to bed to sleep. "Oh…oh! Are you sure? I didn't," he paused to chuckle, "I didn't do this to seduce you."

"I know," she smiled. She kissed him again. "I've missed you. I've missed being with you." She giggled softly and wrinkled her nose. "I never thought I would miss sex this much."

"Once you start, you can't stop," he joked. He lowered his mouth to her jaw line as he slipped one finger inside of her.

She clutched the back of his head and gasped. "Jackson…don't…"

He laughed and his hot breath blew into her ear. "Wow, you are really wound up. Just relax and let me do this for you."

After another weak protest, she did. She tilted her head back to rest it on his shoulder and he kissed her eagerly as she spread her legs for him.

By the time that she climaxed, almost all of the bubbles in the bath had disappeared.

Jackson's fingers were still stroking inside of her, shallowly, and she shuddered. She pressed her face against his neck. "Thank you," she panted.

He gently eased his fingers out of her and rested his hand on her lower stomach. With his free hand, he ran his fingers along her clavicle. "My pleasure," he whispered. He loved to watch her while she was in the throes of passion. She was so responsive, every sound and facial reaction turned him on. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Let's go to bed, beautiful."

Jackson got out of the tub first and grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist. She smiled up at him lazily as she stayed in the water. "I just need a minute," she explained quietly.

He shot her a mischievous grin as he knelt down. "Can't feel your legs?" He teased. He leaned forward and kissed her. It was slow and seductive, and full of promise. "I'm not even finished with you yet." He stood up again and got another towel. He held it open for her and smiled invitingly.

April let the plug out of the bathtub before she slowly got to her feet. She stepped out of the tub and into the towel. Jackson wrapped it tightly around her body as they kissed again. "Blow out the candles," she said against his lips. "I'll be waiting in your bedroom." She patted his chest and then sauntered out of the bathroom.

He raced around the room and blew out every single candle. He ran to his bedroom and closed and locked the door behind him.

April giggled, "That was impressively fast."

Jackson spotted her discarded towel on the floor so he dropped his as well and joined her under his bed sheets. He pulled her into his chest and held her face so that he could kiss her properly. She said that she had missed being with him and he had certainly missed her. He had missed the taste of her skin, the smell of her hair, the way her hands felt running along his back…He had missed everything. He had had sex with plenty of women but April was the only woman he had ever made love to. It was an understatement to say that being with someone had never felt so good.

He rolled her onto her back and gently pressed her into the mattress. She moaned his name and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She pulled him down so that she felt the weight of his body on top of hers and she hooked a leg over his hips. His erection was pressing against her inner thigh so she arched her pelvis into his.

His hips thrust forward reflexively and he grunted. "April, I'm trying to blow your mind with foreplay and you are being such a little tease."

She laughed and protested breathlessly. "I am not, and I'm ready now, screw foreplay. You're the one that's teasing."

He smiled against her lips and started to move off of her so that he could reach his bedside table. However, she firmly held him in place. "April," he chuckled, "I'm just going to get a condom."

"We don't need one."

She kissed him again but he pulled away in surprise. "What do you mean we don't need one?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. The only time they hadn't used a condom was in the men's restroom in San Francisco. It had been sudden and unexpected, and in the middle of their freakin' Boards, he hadn't been prepared. She was taking birth control so they hadn't been worried about pregnancy but still, they were doctors. They were pretty vigilant about safe sex.

She shyly bit down on her bottom lip. "Well, I just figured…you're clean." He had even proven it to her by getting tested after being with that woman from the bar. "And I'm clean…obviously," she laughed, "and I'm on the pill, and we're engaged now…so I just figured…" She trailed off and shrugged. "But if you want to use one then that's fine."

He laughed, "No, of course not." He was a guy; of course he didn't want to use a condom. "I just want to be sure that you're sure." He wanted their first time this time around to be special…perfect.

She ran a hand up to the back of his skull and looked him in the eye. "I am so sure," she told him confidently. "I am so sure about you."

He played with the hair at the nape of her neck and tilted her head upwards so that he could claim her lips. He shifted onto his elbows and positioned himself at her entrance. He moved down to kiss her neck and she let out the sexiest, staggered gasp as he slowly pushed inside of her. He stilled and took a moment to savour the incredible sensation. He raised his head to observe her reaction. She smiled and it was one of those smiles that lit up her whole face.

"God, you're beautiful." He leaned down to softly kiss her as he brushed a thumb along her reddened cheek. "I've really missed being with you too. Touching you. Being inside you."

He abruptly stopped talking and kissed her hard on the mouth. It was all teeth and tongue and she returned his frantic desire. She shifted her hips against his and they began a steady rhythm.

April tore her mouth away from his only to breathe a request in his ear. "Harder, Jackson."

He sped up the pace of his thrusts and she wrapped her legs around his waist to take him in deeper.

He groaned her name into her neck and nipped at the skin available to him. He could feel his orgasm swiftly approaching but he fought it with fierce determination. She hadn't finished yet. He wrapped his arms around her waist and took her with him when he rolled over onto his back. She let out a small squeak, she was surprised by his change in position, and he grinned wickedly. She sat upright and he eagerly followed her, kissing her lips, her chin, and down her neck. His left hand kneaded her breast while his other hand skipped down her torso until he found the most sensitive area of the female body. She moaned rather loudly and dug her short nails into his back when his thumb began to move in a circular motion.

He placed his mouth against hers and they shared a breath before he spoke in a desperate, husky voice. "April, are you close?" His hand moved from her breast upwards to caress her upper arm, shoulder, and neck before he cupped her jaw. "Baby, come for me…please."

She gripped both sides of his face and kissed him hungrily. She bit down on his bottom lip when she tightened around him. She moaned as she experienced what was possibly the most powerful orgasm of her life. He tightly grasped her hips as she trembled due to the aftershocks when he followed her over the edge.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck and listened to the combination of their heavy breathing, and her sexy, breathless laugh. He inhaled deeply, the combination of the smell of her skin and the smell of her hair was intoxicating.

After minutes of silence he murmured, "I love you so much."

April smiled to herself and gently ran her hand along the back of his head. "I love you too. That was amazing."

He raised his head and started to kiss her. "Yes, yes it was."

She giggled as she grabbed his hands that were stroking her sides and inching their way towards her chest. "No," she said in between kisses, "I do not have the energy for round two."

She climbed off of him and collapsed onto her back. She pulled the bed sheets up to cover them and exhaled heavily while pushing her sweaty hair off of her forehead. She thought that she was exhausted earlier in the night, she could barely move now, and she had no idea how Jackson was already semi-hard. They had just finished!

He rolled onto his side and looked down at her with a smile. "You, April Kepner, have a boundless amount of energy."

She laughed as she reached up and playfully poked him in the shoulder. "And you, Jackson Avery, are insatiable."

"Its part of my charm," he grinned. "But I suppose I can give you a break."

"Thank you for your consideration," she replied sarcastically.

He smiled as he pulled her back against his chest so that he could spoon her. "Can I tell you something?" He asked in a whisper.

She reassuringly squeezed the hand that was resting on her abdomen. "Jackson, of course you can."

"I can't wait to marry you," he confessed.

She said his name with a smile. "Jackson, that's so…"

She paused and he immediately frowned and tensed. "I know, it's impatient and smothering, maybe even a little demanding, and—"

She turned over so that they were facing each other and hushed him with a finger to his lips. "It's unbearably sweet." She snaked an arm around his neck and pressed her body to his. "Exactly what a girl wants to hear." She pushed him onto his back and shifted on top of him. She kissed his eyelids and his cheeks before she returned to his lips. "You know, you may be too perfect," she laughed softly.

"I'm just being honest," he stated sincerely. "And I'm trying to be good enough for you."

She stared down at him in awe before she passionately kissed him. "Okay, let's go."

"Let's go where?" He questioned in confusion.

"Round two." She suddenly felt a resurgence of energy and she wanted nothing more than to show him how much she loved him. Again.

He smirked, "Okay, round two."

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**A/N: Please review and let me know what you think! An update will come on Friday :)**


	2. I Have a Baby Problem

**A/N: I'm really happy that people are so excited for this story! Yay! Enjoy the update :)**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Grey's or I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, would I? Lol.**

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**Chapter 2 -** **I Have a Baby Problem**

Jackson slipped out of the bed early the next morning without waking April. She really was exhausted, she didn't even flinch. He pulled on clothes for a workout before he tucked the bed sheets up around her neck and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

When he returned to his bedroom forty-five minutes later, the sound of the door closing woke her. She rolled over and stretched as she looked up at him sleepily. "What are you doing? Why are you so sweaty?"

He laughed as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it into the corner of his room. "I went for a run while you were sound asleep." He climbed onto the bed and hovered above her. "Did you sleep well?"

Despite the fact that she was, in all likelihood, still half asleep, he could see the lust in her eyes. They were scientists; they were both aware that women were sexually attracted to certain kinds of male sweat and that the male sex drive increases after exercise. Hopefully, they could both benefit from his early morning run.

"I slept really well." She answered his question but she was distracted. She couldn't stop running her hands over the bulging muscles of his arms and chest. His body was slick and absolutely sinful. She looked up at him coyly. "Are you tired from your run?"

"No," he grinned, "not really."

"Good," she breathed before she pulled him down to kiss her.

Their mouths fought for dominance as he hastily pushed the bed sheets aside so that his body could touch hers, skin on skin. He was so thankful that she had fallen asleep naked last night. Her hands groped his back and shoulders and he pushed his hips into hers. He dropped his head to her chest and started to kiss her breasts. He had left small marks scattered across her chest and shoulders and seeing them again drove him wild. She tossed her head back and moaned.

"Jackson…I…I want…" She gasped as his tongue swiped along her nipple.

"Tell me what you want," he murmured as he trailed kisses down her torso.

She did not get a chance to tell him.

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Jackson laid his head on her stomach and sighed. At least he had the decency to knock for once.

"What do you want Karev?" He called out.

"I need to talk to Kepner."

He caressed her outer thighs with his large hands. "She's busy!"

April giggled as Jackson kissed her stomach. She gently pushed his head away and sat up. "One second," she told Alex as she wrapped a bed sheet around her frame. She kissed Jackson softly on the lips before she got out of the bed and padded to the door. She opened it just enough to talk to Alex while blocking his view of the rest of the room. "Yeah? What's up?" She asked a little breathlessly.

"Ah jeez," Alex grimaced as he looked her over. "Can you put some freakin' clothes on? I actually need to talk to you."

April furrowed her brow in confusion. Alex seemed genuinely troubled by something, almost panicky. She closed the bedroom again and rummaged for clothes in Jackson's dresser. She grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"What does he want?" Jackson asked from where he lay sprawled out on the bed.

"I don't know," she answered quietly. "But he seems off."

"And by the way, you look like you just spent the night with a frickin' vampire!"

"Really?" Jackson grumbled. "Because he seems the same to me."

She smiled softly as she returned to the bed to kiss him again. "Why don't you go get in the shower?"

"Yeah, okay," he sighed in disappointment.

She got to her feet again and he followed her. She opened the door and joined Alex in the hallway. Jackson emerged from the bedroom behind her and headed straight for the bathroom.

"What is it?" She asked curiously as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have a baby problem."

"Oh my God," she gasped. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she quickly covered it with her hand. "Alex, who did you get pregnant?"

"No! Fuck no!" He corrected her quickly. "I didn't get anyone pregnant Kepner!"

"Oh…" She tilted her head in confusion. "Then what's your baby problem?"

"I volunteered to babysit Sofia tonight."

"You volunteered to babysit Sofia tonight?" She repeated.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Last night when I went to visit Robbins, and her and Torres were talking about how Sloan is going out of town for a few days, to visit Addison Montgomery, and I just blurted out that I'd babysit their kid tonight so that they could relax and Torres could spend the night at the hospital if she wanted."

"Aww Alex, that's sweet."

He rolled his eyes. "The problem is that I suck at babysitting. I've never really done it before."

"Alex, you're a peds surgeon," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I have lots of experience with babies in hospitals but I hope that Sofia doesn't need surgery tonight. I need you to help me Kepner. Don't make me beg."

She grinned; she knew how painful this must be for him. Alex hated admitting that he needed help, especially from her. "What's in it for me?"

He groaned and ran a hand over his face. "Whatever you want."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll help you babysit." She smirked at him before she started to walk towards the bathroom. "I'll ponder my terms," she called over her shoulder.

She closed and locked the bathroom door behind her and quickly shed her clothes. She pulled back the shower curtain and stepped inside. "I thought I'd join you…oh." Her eyes drifted below Jackson's waist and she found that he was very hard. "Were you…?" She felt her face warm and she knew that she was blushing. "But if I'm interrupting," she began with a coy smile.

He stared at her hungrily before grabbing her by the waist. He pulled her into his chest and stepped backwards into the stream of water. "Definitely not interrupting," he whispered.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gently pressed her lips against his. His hands moved down her back to cup her behind and she moaned. She dropped her mouth to his chest and placed kisses along his wet skin. "Where were we before Alex knocked on the door?"

Jackson grinned, "I'm sure we can figure it out."

* * *

April walked into Derek Shepherd's hospital room with a smile. "How are you feeling this morning Dr. Shepherd?"

The neuro surgeon frowned as his resident checked his vitals. "Do you ever sleep April?" It seemed like the red-head was constantly around. Hunt had assigned her to his care post-op and when she wasn't checking on him, she was keeping Meredith company, or cooking for her, or watching Zola. He was very grateful for her tremendous kindness since the accident.

"Sometimes," she joked. She made a note on his chart before she asked, "How is your hand?"

Derek stretched his left hand experimentally. It hurt like hell and he still had a very limited range of movement. He was stable, all of his other injuries had been taken care of, and he had been allowed to leave the hospital for Lexie's funeral, but his hand was still healing. He might have another surgery ahead of him and he had a long road of physical therapy if he was to return to surgery.

"You'll get there," she said supportively.

He rested his head on his pillow and groaned in frustration. He wasn't used to feeling so powerless. He hadn't even felt this way after the shooting. He was afraid he would never be the same surgeon that he once was. Before he had a chance to confess his greatest fear in a moment of vulnerability, Meredith walked into the room. He was trying to stay positive for her.

"Good morning April," she smiled.

"Morning Mer," she chirped. "Everything looks good and on schedule."

Meredith, Cristina, and Mark Sloan had all been discharged from the hospital. Derek and Arizona were still patients. Meredith was the only one who had been cleared for surgery so far. Cristina had wanted to get back to work immediately, as they had all expected, but her shoulder was still bothering her. On a brighter note, things between her and Owen seemed much less tense. Their residency was ending soon and by the time their fellowships began, Cristina would be ready to operate again.

Meredith and Sloan had both taken the leave that they were entitled to as they attempted to get their lives back together. Everyone involved in the crash had the support of their friends and coworkers and each seemed to have their own resident to hover over them. April was looking after the Shepherds, Jackson kept an eye on Sloan, and Alex was never far from Robbins and Torres.

"Thanks April," Meredith said softly. "When are you going home for a visit? Soon right?" She asked as she sat in the chair beside the bed.

"Saturday," April answered with a smile.

"Is Jackson going with you?" Derek asked mischievously.

"He is," she chuckled. "But he's doing a couple of Sloan's procedures next week so he's not flying out til Tuesday."

Meredith grinned. "Big step, meeting the parents."

"Who's meeting the parents?" Cristina asked curiously as she stepped into the room carrying two cups of coffee, one for her and one for Meredith.

"Jackson," Meredith piped up. "He's going to Ohio."

"Ooh, he's going to the farm."

Normally, April hated talking about her personal life, especially with Cristina, who usually just teased her endlessly, but a lot of things had changed since the plane crash. She didn't mind talking about her relationship with Jackson with her close coworkers, and she recognized that the three people in the room might want something to focus on that was much less heavy than everything else that was going on around them.

* * *

April had just finished discharging a patient from the ER when she felt a hand on her hip and hot breath on her neck. "Do you have time for a consult Dr. Kepner?" Jackson breathed into her ear.

She grinned to herself and bit down on her bottom lip. "What kind of consult Dr. Avery?" She asked innocently.

"_Massive _penile trauma."

"Jackson," she giggled. She turned around and swatted his chest. "You are terrible."

"You find me irresistibly charming," he chuckled as he fingered the lapel of her lab coat. "Come to an on-call room with me," he suggested in a whisper.

She thoughtfully chewed on her lip as she admired his body. No one looked as good in scrubs as Jackson. It was actually unfair. The material managed to highlight his toned chest and arms, and slender hips. Also, he hadn't shaved in a few days and she found his facial hair very attractive.

Jackson grinned to himself. April was seriously pondering the idea and he found it adorable. Fooling around in an on-call room was against every bone in April Kepner's body. She took a lot of pride in her professionalism but it was practically a Seattle Grace rite of passage. The only time that they had done it was after her Mass Gen offer when she had been practically vibrating with excitement. But he had spied her from across the pit and she just looked so sexy filling out paperwork while leaning against the nurses' station and they had an unexpected lull in their workload. He hadn't been able to resist propositioning her.

"I've checked on all my post-ops. I don't have any surgeries on the board. I changed dressings for Robbins. I even did Hunt a favour and manhandled Yang into getting a check-up," he laughed. "I've been a very good boy and the ER looks very under control," he told her in a low, deep voice.

A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth and she put her pen back in the breast pocket of her coat. "Okay, just this once," she murmured.

"That's what you said last time," he teased.

She scowled at him but proceeded to head out of the emergency room. He followed her excitedly and looked around to make sure that the coast was clear before they slipped into an empty on-call room. He locked the door behind them and immediately began to take her clothes off.

He pulled her lab coat off of her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. His mouth latched onto her neck and she giggled as he hastily pulled on the drawstrings of her scrub pants.

He smiled at her laughter and guided her towards the bed. She pulled his scrub top over his head before he leaned down to eagerly cover her mouth with his own.

He felt guilty for being so happy in the aftermath of the plane crash. He missed Lexie, not seeing her everyday was unnatural; he still expected to see her in the locker room or the cafeteria. He greatly empathized with Sloan and Meredith, and he was worried that Shepherd and Robbins would never be the great surgeons that they once were but he was so happy in his personal life and he felt confident in his decision to do his fellowship in Seattle. He had never been this happy…ever. He had never felt this strongly about anyone, not even close. He just wanted to kiss her and touch her all of the time. He wanted to make love to her for hours on end. He could sit and talk for hours on end as well, just holding her hand or stroking her face.

He couldn't wait until he bought a ring and put it on her finger…Until he was able to show everyone that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together.

* * *

Jackson lay back on the on-call room bunk and grinned at April as she redressed. She sat down on the edge of the bed to tie her sneakers and he slipped his fingers under her top to trail along her spine. "What do you want to do tonight?" He had a few ideas and he was sure that she was able to guess them. Since they had rekindled the physical part of their relationship last night, he had barely been able to keep his hands off of her and she wasn't showing much more restraint.

"Actually," she began as she leaned back against him. "I have plans tonight."

He placed a hand on her thigh and chuckled. "Oh really? What are they?"

"Babysitting Sofia with Alex."

"Oh…" His face morphed into a look of surprise before realization dawned on him. "Is that what he wanted you for this morning?"

She nodded, "Yup. He was desperate. I get whatever I want for helping him with this."

He grinned as he sat up and nuzzled her neck. "How about he's not allowed to interrupt us anymore?"

April laughed as she placed a hand on the back of his head. "I was thinking more along the lines of making him clean up after himself; occasionally do the dishes, his own laundry, that sort of thing."

"You're no fun."

She smiled at his pouting and softly kissed him on the lips. "If he's doing all of those things then he won't have time to interrupt us."

"You're an evil genius," he declared proudly.

She kissed him again. "I have my moments."

* * *

"Torres, I got this. Don't worry about it."

Callie Torres eyed Alex Karev sceptically as she slowly made her way towards her front door. She had no idea why she had agreed to let him babysit her child. "Are you sure about this?" She questioned uncertainly.

"Yes! Go! Spend time with Robbins!" Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that Kepner is coming over?"

"Yes," she chuckled in relief, "that makes me feel much better."

Alex rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.

A knock sounded on the door and Callie pulled it open with a smile. "April, so nice to see you!"

"You too Dr. Torres," she replied cheerily.

"Well," Callie smiled brightly. "I'm going to go. Thanks! Have a good night! Page me if you need anything."

Callie left the apartment and April turned to Alex with a smile. "Where's Sofia?" She asked excitedly.

Alex pointed towards the playpen set up in the middle of the living room. "Women and babies," he said to himself.

* * *

Alex was sitting on the couch staring at the television. April had turned on some awful children's show for Sofia but the kid wasn't even paying attention. She was sitting on the floor, between April's legs, playing with some toys.

"Can I turn on the game?" He asked in annoyance.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, go ahead. You are the worst babysitter ever."

He grabbed the remote and grinned triumphantly. "I told you. I haven't exactly spent a lot of time with kids outside the hospital. Just Zola."

A knock rapped on the door and Alex jumped off of the comfortable sofa to answer it. "Avery?" He said in surprise.

"Hey," Jackson smiled. "Figured I'd come over and see how the babysitting is going." He raised the pizza box in his hand. "I brought pizza."

Alex grabbed the box hungrily but eyed his roommate suspiciously. "You're pathetic Avery, you know that?"

Jackson glowered as he stepped inside the apartment. "What's that supposed to mean? I just brought you food."

"It means," Alex chuckled darkly, "that you can't spend one night away from Kepner. She has you by the balls."

"Hi Jackson," April smiled happily when she spotted her boyfriend.

"Hey babe." He walked over to kiss her on the top of the head and coo to Sofia. "Hi Sofia." He joined Karev in the kitchen, where he was already eating a slice of pizza from the box.

"Do you really have it that bad?" Karev asked around a mouthful of food. "You had to crash our babysitting."

Jackson ignored him and grabbed a slice of pizza for himself. He had been bored in their empty apartment. He leaned against the island counter and ate as he watched April with Sofia. He got the same exact feelings that he had when he had seen her with Zola. God, she looked so good with a baby. Happy. Natural. Insanely beautiful. He smiled as Sofia giggled when she gently tugged on one of April's auburn curls.

"Dude," Alex began quietly. "Stop looking at her like that."

"Like what?" Jackson questioned curiously as he turned back towards Alex.

"Like you want to knock her up right now, and I do not want to be present for that."

Jackson rolled his eyes but he couldn't exactly argue with Karev's statement. He wanted to have kids, and he definitely wanted to have kids with April. The more that he thought about it, the more he wanted it…longed for it. He wanted to create a new life. He wanted to raise a tiny person and love and care for them. Teach them right from wrong. Play catch. Help with homework. Go through college brochures and argue about curfews. He wanted to do all of the little things that his parents hadn't done with him. He wanted to be a great surgeon but he also wanted to be an excellent father.

Alex punched him in the shoulder and he winced. "Karev, what the hell?"

"Snap out of it, man!" He scolded. "Hey Kepner, do you want some pizza?"

"Yes please!" She lifted Sofia into her arms and joined the two men in the kitchen. She stood next to Jackson and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for bringing this over," she said as she picked up a piece of pizza.

"No problem," he replied. He slipped a hand around her waist and began to massage her hip with his hand as he watched Sofia. The baby's hands were still tangled in April's red tresses. She seemed fascinated by April's hair and Jackson couldn't exactly blame her, his hands spent a lot of time buried in her hair as well. "I can take her while you eat," he offered.

April smiled as she handed Sofia to Jackson. "Thank you. You've already done more than Alex."

Alex rolled his eyes and instead of responding to her, he gave Jackson a warning. "Just be careful Avery. If anything happens to that kid then my career is over."

"I'm not completely useless," he replied quickly, "unlike you." He shifted Sofia in his arms and she placed a hand on his cheek and let out a small giggle as he lightly tickled her stomach. Sloan had a very cute kid. He had never held her before but it was nice. He could easily imagine holding one of his own someday.

* * *

As soon as Jackson walked through the door of their apartment, April grabbed his hand and eagerly pulled him towards his bedroom. They had just left Callie and Arizona's apartment with assurances from Alex that he could make it through the night and get Sofia to daycare the next day. April expected him to freak out tomorrow morning and call her for help but she definitely wasn't thinking about Alex at the moment.

Unbeknownst to Jackson, seeing him with a baby had done funny things to her as well. Sofia had fallen asleep in Jackson's arms and it was the most adorable thing that she had ever seen. Alex had teased that he could hear her uterus fluttering. She had hit him and rolled her eyes but it had definitely done something to her body.

She hungrily attacked his mouth as she unbuckled his belt. She yanked his t-shirt over his head and pulled him down onto the bed with her. He kissed her back enthusiastically as his hands worked on removing her jeans.

It was fast and frantic. The kissing was all teeth and tongue. Their touching could only be described as rough groping. The room was filled with the sounds of the rustling of clothing, heavy breathing, and quiet grunting. Her bra didn't even come off and they remained atop of the covers. The bedroom door was still wide open; but luckily Alex would not be coming home tonight.

They hadn't done anything quite that lust driven since San Francisco.

After Jackson's final thrust inside of her, he closed his eyes and rested his head in her cleavage. His forearms were quivering so he collapsed on top of her as delicately as he could. Her legs slipped from around his waist and she exhaled heavily as she pushed her hair out of her face. She cupped the back of his head as he ran his nose along her collarbone. She shivered at the feeling of his facial hair rubbing against her skin.

He raised his head and kissed her softly on the lips. "Was that okay? Was it too rough? I—"

She cut him off with a passionate kiss. "It was exactly what I wanted."

They simply kissed for a little bit longer before they changed into pajamas and got into bed for the night.

Jackson lay on his back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Can I ask what brought that on? Not that I'm complaining because it was really hot and not at all unwelcomed, but…"

He trailed off and she laughed softly. "I kind of jumped you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, a little bit," he chuckled.

She rolled into his side and placed a hand on his bare chest. She bit down on her bottom lip nervously before she finally said, "Would it freak you out if I said it was because of how you were with Sofia tonight?"

He smiled to himself and kissed the top of her head. "No, that wouldn't freak me out at all," he replied honestly.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Really," he confirmed. "We're going to get married; we should probably have this conversation. I want kids. Do you want kids?" She nodded with a smile. "Do you want my kids?"

She laughed involuntarily as she climbed on top of him. Of course she wanted to have his kids. She wouldn't have accepted his proposal if he she didn't imagine raising kids with him. She had to admit that children were a deal breaker for her and it made her hysterically happy to hear him say that he wanted a family too.

"You're smart." She ran her nose along his before kissing his lips. "Kind." Another quick kiss. "Funny." One more kiss. "Pretty," she giggled. "Who wouldn't want to have your kids? You're like genetically perfect."

"Oh, I get it now," he grinned teasingly. "You only want me for my genes."

She grinned back at him. "You totally figured me out."

For the rest of the night, until they fell asleep, they talked about children and the kind of life that they wanted to have together. Jackson was right, it was a conversation that they should have if they were going to get married. A very important conversation. But instead of it being serious and scary, it was fun and light-hearted. They wanted the same things. They both fell asleep even more confident and secure in their relationship.

* * *

**A/N: So, in this story, Jackson and April are kinda like Bailey and Ben. Lol. Speaking of, thoughts on the premiere? Mark Sloan has been my fave Grey's guy since his very first episode so you can imagine my feelings. But I can't wait to see Jackson's reaction to April coming back!**

**Please review! :) And admit it, I freaked you out a little with the chapter title. Lol.**


	3. That's the One

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 – That's the One**

Jackson pulled April back into his chest to kiss her again. He was going to see her again in four days but he actually couldn't remember the last time that they had been apart for that long. They lived and worked together, they had for years, so they spent hours and hours together, and since they had become a couple, well…he didn't want to be apart from her at all. Even four days was too long.

"Jackson," she giggled against his mouth. "I have to go through security."

They were kissing in the middle of Seattle-Tacoma Airport and neither one of them cared. He liked that she let him kiss her, hold her hand, and wrap his arm around her in public. Some women were weird about that sort of thing and he initially thought that April would be extremely uncomfortable with public displays of affection.

He broke the kiss reluctantly and cradled her face. "Text me when you land."

"I will," she smiled. "And I'll call you tonight."

"Okay." He kissed her one last time. "Have a safe flight. I love you."

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I love you too, and I'll see you in a few days."

He slowly released her from his grasp and watched her walk toward the security gates. He smiled uncontrollably when she looked over her shoulder and waved at him.

He left the airport and walked back to his car. Their residency was officially over so now he had nothing to do for the rest of the day. After a quick stop at his apartment, he dropped by Sloan's place for a visit. His mentor had only gotten back from Los Angeles yesterday. He knocked on Sloan's door as he juggled the cardboard box in his arms that was full of food.

Sloan opened the door and greeted him with a small smile. "Hey Avery."

Sloan let him inside the apartment and Jackson set the box down on the island in the kitchen. "April went a little overboard cooking yesterday," he explained with a chuckle. Overboard was probably an understatement, she had made food for Sloan and Torres, he and Alex, and Meredith and Cristina.

The older man laughed and peered into the box. He loved Kepner's cooking so he certainly wasn't complaining. "What did you bring?"

"Uh, there's a lasagna, a turkey casserole, a lemon cheesecake, and an apple pie."

Sloan's eyes widened in excitement as he pulled the dishes out one by one and laid them on the counter. He grabbed a plate, a fork, and a knife and inwardly debated whether he wanted a piece of lasagna or turkey casserole. "You know what," he said to himself. "I'm going to have both. Want some Avery?"

"Sure." Jackson nodded and accepted a plate. "How was LA?"

"It was good," Sloan answered as he dished out servings of food.

His trip down to Los Angeles had been a good idea. Addison always gave him the perspective he needed. He still wasn't ready to return to work but he didn't feel the overwhelming desire to drown himself in alcohol. Overall, he felt marginally better. Addison had at least shown him that breaking up with Julia was indeed the right thing to do. It wouldn't have been fair to either of them to continue their relationship.

He walked to the refrigerator and grabbed two beers. He and Avery took their food to the couch and he turned on sports highlights. His family and Avery were the two other things that made him feel a little bit better. Currently, Sofia was asleep in his bedroom and Callie was at the hospital with Arizona. His chats with Avery brought a little normalcy to his life. They talked about sports, plastics, and Kepner. Surprisingly, talking to him about Kepner made him feel useful and wise, and not bitter and resentful like he had expected to feel when discussing someone else's relationship. It also took his mind off of things. He liked seeing his protégée so happy.

He took his first bite of lasagna and moaned. "Man, Kepner can cook. You could have brought her over ya know? Callie told me about how Sofia's taken to her."

Jackson smiled to himself. They had spent time babysitting Sofia every night that Sloan had been in Los Angeles and the baby had gotten slightly attached to the red-head. "I would have but she's on a plane to Columbus," he answered.

"Oh?"

"She's gone to visit her family," he explained further. "I'm flying out there Tuesday."

Sloan grinned as the younger man's body tensed and he cricked his neck. "You nervous?"

"Oh yeah," Jackson admitted bashfully. Every time that he thought about going to Ohio, his palms got sweaty and his tongue felt too large to form words. "Really freakin' nervous. I haven't met a girl's parents in a really long time and they're…they're going to be my in-laws. April's really close with her family, they have to like me," he stated firmly.

"They're going to love you," Sloan said confidently. "You're a successful surgeon. A good-looking, charming, nice guy. You're every parent's dream. You're an Avery," he laughed.

Jackson frowned before taking a bite of lasagna Being an Avery had meant something all of his life but it meant nothing to April's family. He wished that he felt as confident as Sloan. April had been raised in a completely different world than him. He was a city boy; he had never even been on a farm before. She had had pets growing up, attended church, and spent hours playing with her siblings. She hadn't been popular or rich, or a little bit of a troublemaking slacker like he had been. She had been taught the value of hard work and her parents had believed in her dream of becoming a doctor. Her upbringing had been wholesome and loving, and religious. He was really afraid that he would do or say the wrong thing, and that her family would see that he wasn't good enough for April. It was the truth, he wasn't good enough for her, and he was really scared that she would realize that soon.

"Her Mom seems nice," he told Sloan quietly. "And I've talked to one of her sisters on the phone."

Sloan leaned back in his seat and sipped his beer. "I get it, you're afraid of her Dad." He understood. He probably should have said that he was every mother's dream. He and Avery were a lot alike and fathers weren't typically fans of him either. They were too pretty, too charming…too sexually threatening. Fathers didn't like guys like them around their daughters, especially ones like April Kepner. "He's going to take one look at you and know that you broke ground in virgin territory."

Jackson winced at Sloan's metaphor and turned to him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," Sloan nodded. "Dads just know these things."

"I'm screwed, aren't I? He's going to hate me instantly." And he understood why. April had been saving herself for marriage, her family knew that, and now all of a sudden, she was having sex with him. Lots of sex…lots of really hot sex…in various locations and positions. He felt like that disgusting guy again, the one who made her break her promise to Jesus. It wasn't like he could explain that losing her virginity had been her idea. "I am so screwed," he murmured.

Sloan couldn't lie to him. "Yeah, pretty much." After all, he already knew that he was going to hate the guy that… He stopped his train of thought and shuddered. His little girl was still a baby. Thankfully he had a _very_ long time before that moment arrived.

"What can I do to get him to not hate me?" He asked curiously.

"Hmm." Sloan pondered his question for a moment. "Avery, it's easy to see how much you two love each other, that will work to your advantage. Just keep your hands to yourself," he warned.

Jackson nodded in agreement. That piece of advice was a given. A challenge but a given. After four days apart, all that he would want to do would be to kiss and touch her. But he wasn't completely sex crazed. He could control himself.

They both fell silent as they focused on the TV. He finished his plate of food and followed Sloan back into the kitchen. Jackson finished his beer as Sloan started to eat a piece of cheesecake.

"This is seriously delicious. Kepner's a keeper," he chimed.

"I know," Jackson laughed.

"Hey," Sloan began as he pointed his fork at Avery. "Do you know what else might get you on Mr. Kepner's good side?"

"What?" He asked intrigued.

"You can't go to Ohio without a ring," Sloan stated sensibly.

* * *

Jackson looked at the glass case of rings with as much intensity as he would if he was performing microscopic surgery. Picking out an engagement ring was a big deal. She would wear it all the time. He was glad that Sloan had volunteered to come with him; it somehow made the task less daunting. They had waited for Torres to return from the hospital so that there was someone to watch Sofia before they had ventured to the mall.

"See anything you like?" Sloan asked as he returned to the jewellery store with two cappuccinos.

"I'm not sure," he muttered. All of the rings that he was looking at were nice but none of them stood out.

Sloan looked down at the rings thoughtfully and hummed. "Do you have a price range?"

Jackson shook his head. "I just want to see one and know that it's perfect for April." He wanted something classic, traditional, and unostentatious. Obviously, it had to be beautiful and he wasn't going to play it on the cheap side. He had money.

"What about that one?"

Jackson shook his head again. The one that Sloan was pointing at was too big and flashy. He took a sip of his cappuccino and walked to the other side of the store.

"I have a question for you," Sloan began.

"Shoot," he replied distractedly.

"If you only have surgeries tomorrow then why are you waiting until Tuesday to go to Ohio?" He asked curiously.

The younger man sighed and confessed, "Because on Monday I'm going to Boston." Sloan's eyebrows shot upwards and Jackson nodded glumly. "Yup, I'm going to tell my mother that I'm getting married. She'd kill me if I told her over the phone."

"Brave man, Avery," Sloan complimented with a laugh.

A smile spread across Jackson's face as he found what he was looking for. He caught Sloan's attention and pointed to the ring he was looking at. "That's the one."

* * *

Jackson sat in his bed and smiled at the ring he had purchased. It was perfect. Sloan thought so too. He couldn't wait to see the expression on April's face when he gave it to her. He closed the small jewellery box and laid it on his bedside table when his cell phone began to ring. He grinned when he read the caller ID.

"Hey," he answered happily.

"_Hi! How are you?"_ April asked perkily.

"I'm great. How are you? Did you have a good flight?"

"_I did. I am now safe and sound at my parents' house. My sister Alice is here too."_

"Sounds nice," he smiled to himself. He knew that she was really excited by the prospect of spending some time with her sisters.

They talked a little bit more about their day. She gushed about how nice and relaxing it was to be out of the city and to see her family. He told her about his afternoon with Sloan, conveniently leaving out that they had gone ring shopping.

"So, there's a bit of a change in my travel plans," he finally said.

"_Oh?"_ And he could hear the slight hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm still flying to Columbus on Tuesday," he assured her. "But I'll be coming from Boston, not Seattle. I'm going to see my Mom."

"_Oh Jackson, I'm glad! That's a really good idea!"_

He laughed at her enthusiasm. "I'm glad that one of us thinks so. It's a good thing that she loves you; otherwise I'd be dreading this trip even more."

"_I'm glad that your Mom likes me too, especially after I suctioned the dorsal vein."_

He laughed even harder. "Still haven't let that go, have you?"

"_It was embarrassing and I felt bad!"_ She stated adamantly.

"You are too cute." He lay back on his bed and rested his head on the pillow that she usually slept on. "I miss you April," he whispered.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied. _"I miss you too."_ He yawned and she immediately said, _"I should let you go, you have surgeries in the morning. Have fun! Be awesome!"_

"I will," he chuckled. "I love you and I'll see you soon."

"_Love you too. Sweet dreams!"_

* * *

April ended the call with a bright smile on her face and dropped her cell phone into her lap. She sank back into the corner of the sofa and curled her feet up under her. Her parents and Ben were already in bed but she and Alice had decided to stay up and chat while they watched a little late night television. She had needed to stay up a little later than usual anyway in order to call Jackson before he went to bed.

Alice returned to the living room of their childhood home and handed her a cup of hot chocolate. "You are so in love," she said with a wide smile.

"I told you that already," April chuckled as she accepted the mug.

Alice sat down on the other end of the couch with her own mug of hot chocolate and continued to smile at her older sister. "I know but you've never been in love before so forgive me for being a little sceptical, but hearing you on the phone with him…you're so in love," she repeated.

"I am," the red-head confirmed. "He makes me really happy. He makes me feel…I dunno," she shrugged. "He just makes me feel the exact opposite of how every other guy has ever made me feel, and we've been friends for so long, and we know each other so well…it just feels like its supposed to be this way." She took a deep breath before she told her youngest sister her secret. "He asked me to marry him and I said yes."

Alice covered her mouth with a hand to prevent a squeal from escaping. "Oh my God! Are you serious?"

"We're not really telling people yet though," she said quickly. "Only one person knows besides you. Jackson is going to Boston to tell his mother before he comes here and then I'll tell Mom and Dad. So you have to keep it a secret for a few days."

Alice had never been the greatest at keeping secrets. "I will do my best. I promise." She smiled and gently nudged April's foot with her own. "Now I can't wait to meet him! After everything I've heard over the past five years, he better be as amazing as you say he is."

"He is," April laughed. She had a feeling that her three married sisters might even be a little dazzled by her fiancé. He generally had that effect on women. She watched her sister fidget and take a long sip from her mug. "What is it? What do you want to ask me?" She probed.

"The big question," Alice began uneasily. "How does Jackson feel about the fact that you won't have sex with him until after you're married?"

April's views on pre-marital sex were well known amongst the Kepner family. The four Kepner girls had all held the same belief at some point in their life; it was what they were raised to believe. Libby and Kimmy had both gotten married straight out of high school and started families while they attended state college. Alice had moved to Chicago, as far away from Moline as she could imagine at eighteen. She had loved the city when she had gone to visit April there while she was in medical school. And she had let go of a lot of her small town ideals, including the ones regarding sex. She had had a few partners before meeting Ben during her senior year and she had known right away that he was the one. April, on the other hand, had always been insanely focused on her ambition to be a great surgeon and she was by far the most awkward around the opposite sex of the four of them. For April, saving herself for marriage made her life easier in a lot of ways. Or at least it had in the past.

April flushed and shied away from her sister's gaze.

"You dirty little whore," Alice teased good-naturedly. "You're already having sex with him, aren't you?"

April nodded meekly. "I am, and we have been…intimate…for a while," she confessed.

Alice gasped, "I am shocked." She now had one more, huge secret to keep but she was incredibly intrigued. "You are going to tell me every single detail."

April giggled at the absurdity of it all. At thirty, she was about to have her very first sex talk with one of her sisters.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that you enjoyed a living Mark Sloan. Please review! :)**


	4. Congratulations

**A/N: Thanks for all of the support! Enjoy the update :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Congratulations**

Jackson walked into the Brigham and Women's Hospital after dropping his bags off at his hotel. Since he would only be in Boston for the night, he figured that a hotel room would be the easiest way to go. His family was busy with surgery after all.

It was weird to be back in Boston. He hadn't spent a lot of time here since starting his residency but he really loved this city. He knew all of Boston's well kept secrets; the small bookstores and hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and where they made the best coffee. He really wanted to bring April here soon.

He walked through the lobby and towards the main nurses' station. "Hi," he smiled in greeting. "I'm looking for Dr. Catherine Avery."

"Do you have an appointment?" The female nurse asked politely.

He cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, I'm, uh, I'm her son," he mumbled awkwardly.

The young nurse smiled, instantly recognizing who stood before her. "Well, she's in surgery right now, but you can wait in her office."

"Okay," he nodded.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked eagerly.

"Um, no, that's fine, thanks," he answered before he walked away.

He took the elevator up to the fourth floor and quickly found his mother's office. He sat down in one of the chairs across from her desk and looked around the room to pass the time. Her office hadn't changed much since the last time that he had been here. It was full of textbooks and anatomical diagrams of the male and female urinary tracts. There were awards on a shelf behind her desk and she still had a few framed photographs of herself with him and his sister. Her office wasn't as cozy as April's former office but it wasn't completely devoid of comfort and personalization. His mother was sentimental; she just didn't always show it.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sent April a quick text to tell her that he had arrived at the Brigham. They had been texting each other at pretty much every available moment. He really missed her, and she had wanted to hear all about the solo surgeries he had performed yesterday. Also, apparently there wasn't a lot to do in Moline.

She replied to him quickly.

_Have fun, behave yourself, and tell her I said hi! xoxo_

He chuckled and started to type another message when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He turned his head towards the figure in the doorway and grimaced. A large part of him had hoped to avoid her today. "Liz, I didn't expect to see you."

"What are you doing here, baby brother?" The beautiful cardio surgeon asked with a smirk.

"I'm here to talk to Mom," he answered.

Elizabeth Avery stepped inside her mother's office and sat down in the chair next to her brother. "You flew across the country to talk to Mom? You couldn't have picked up the phone like a normal person?"

"It's important," he explained in exasperation. "I didn't want to do it over the phone."

"Are you going to tell me what's so important?" She inquired nosily.

"Nope," he declared firmly. His sister would blurt it out to their mother before he even had the chance to say hello.

She leaned forward and eyed her brother curiously as she tried to figure out what he was hiding. "Oh! I got it! You came here to tell Mom that you finally decided to change your speciality!" She said it jokingly but there was a malicious tinge beneath her words.

He rolled his eyes. "At least I don't have the bedside manner of a vulture."

He and Elizabeth spent a lot of time trading insults. It wasn't that they disliked each other; they just disagreed on a lot of things. They had different values and ideals. His sister was a lot like Cristina Yang. They both thought that cardio was the be all, end all of surgery and they both liked to point out that he was the family disappointment. Liz's decisions had never been questioned the way that his were. She was the responsible, practical, overachiever. His sister had done everything right: she had graduated at the top of her class from Harvard Med, she had done her residency at Mass Gen, and she had specialized in cardio. Now, she was working at the Brigham with their mother and crafting quite a reputation for herself.

"Well, if you're not going to tell me why you're here then I have something to tell you."

Jackson glanced up from his phone and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I have an interview for a new job." She smiled brightly, "Head of Cardio position."

"No way!" He exclaimed as he sat up straighter in his chair. "That's great," he congratulated genuinely. His sister was only four years older than him, she might be a little young to be in charge of a department but she definitely had the talent and skill to do the job. "Where?"

She grinned roguishly, "Seattle Grace Mercy West."

Jackson's mouth dropped open in shock. "No way," he groaned. Liz getting a senior attending position…a department head position…at his hospital was one of the worst things that could happen to him right now. They had never worked well together and his sister was judgemental, to say the least. He wasn't sure how she would fit in at SGMW.

Before Liz had a chance to rub her interview in his face and he was able to childishly retaliate, Catherine Avery breezed into the room.

"Baby! What a pleasant surprise!" After closing the office door, she walked towards Jackson and placed a kiss on both of his cheeks. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would have cleared my schedule."

He shrugged, "Its okay, I'm only here til tomorrow morning."

Catherine sat in the chair behind her desk and smiled at both of her children. "Why are you only staying for a day?" She asked Jackson. "Your residency is over. Your fellowship doesn't begin until July. Why don't you stay and visit for a few days?"

"I can't," he answered quickly. "I'm going to Ohio tomorrow."

"Ohio?" Elizabeth inquired with bewilderment, and a hint of revulsion.

"Yeah, that's where my girlfriend is from. She's visiting her family and I'm going there to meet them. Well," he began as he turned back towards his mother, "April isn't really my girlfriend anymore."

"If she isn't your girlfriend anymore then why are you going to meet her family?" His sister asked in confusion.

Catherine's eyes widened before she let out a squeal of excitement. She pieced together what her son was trying to say very quickly and reached across her desk to hold his face. "You asked her to marry you?"

Jackson laughed softly at his mother's perceptiveness. "Yeah, I did."

Catherine continued to express her joy while Elizabeth quipped, "And she said yes?"

The youngest Avery glared. "Don't sound so surprised."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "I have a surgery to get to." She squeezed Jackson's shoulder. "Congratulations. Say goodbye before you leave."

"Thanks, and I will," he replied honestly.

After Elizabeth left, he pulled the small jewellery box out of his pocket and laid it on his mother's desk. "That's the ring. What do you think?" He actually wanted his mother's opinion on this matter.

"Jackson Avery," she scolded, "you proposed without a ring! Didn't I teach you anything?"

"The proposal was perfect," he defended himself. Looking back on it, he really wouldn't have wanted to ask her to marry him any other way. "She did say yes after all."

"Well of course she did," she smiled. "Congratulations baby."

He could tell that his mother was genuinely thrilled about his engagement and he finally felt like he had done something right. "Thanks Mom."

* * *

April stood at the kitchen counter cutting up vegetables as she helped her mother with dinner. She had to cut _something_ while she was in Ohio. She wasn't used to being this inactive; she was a surgeon, surgeons worked until they could barely stand. Surgeons didn't spend so many hours watching television. She loved spending time with her parents, her sisters, her brothers-in-law, and her nieces and nephews. She loved seeing her old dogs and being out of the city. She even loved doing the scattered farm chore. But she could only relax for so long. She had forgotten how boring her hometown was, and she really missed Jackson. She really _really_ missed him. They talked on the phone and texted but it wasn't the same. She would have not been able to handle a long-distance relationship. She couldn't wait until tomorrow so that she could see him again.

As if her mother could read her mind, she asked, "What time does Jackson's flight arrive tomorrow?"

"Eleven thirty-five," she answered automatically.

"Is your father going with you or—?"

Alice walked into the kitchen and interrupted their mother, "Ben and I are going to go with her. I want to meet Mr. Perfect first. Kimmy talking to him on the phone does not count," she added.

April looked at Alice's grinning face and narrowed her eyes in warning. "Please don't call him that to his face."

Her younger sister smiled teasingly, "He just sounds so dreamy. And I creeped him on Facebook."

"You didn't?" April groaned.

"Of course I did!" She replied dismissively. "You never mentioned that he was so…he's _beautiful_."

"Who's beautiful?" Ben Rowan asked as he stepped into the kitchen through the sliding patio door. Joe Kepner followed close behind him and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Jackson Avery," Alice answered with a smile.

"Aww, thanks sweetie," Ben joked as he wrapped an arm around his wife.

"Don't worry, honey," Alice said as she gently patted his chest. "I've never been attracted to muscled doctors with perfect skin and teeth, and piercing eyes."

Ben laughed as he walked over to playfully nudge his sister-in-law in the ribs. "Yeah April, you're really slummin' it."

April blushed and turned around to face her family. "Is this because I've never brought a boy home before? You're going to question and tease me until I go back to Seattle?"

"No," Alice replied but she nodded as she spoke.

Karen Kepner smiled at her two daughters. "Yes April, you've never brought a boy home before so obviously he's special, or course we're curious. I can't wait to meet him. He sounds like a sweetheart."

April smiled, "Thanks Mom."

Joe Kepner huffed. "I'm just curious where the boy's gonna sleep."

"In my room," April replied instantly.

"Then where are you going to sleep?" He retorted.

"Dad," she breathed incredulously. "I'm thirty years old; I think that my boyfriend and I can share a room."

"Yeah," Alice agreed. She moved to stand beside her sister and spoke so that only April could hear her. "Its not like you're going to do anything you haven't already done." April elbowed her in the stomach and she yelped. "Ow!"

"I'll think about it," Joe Kepner grumbled as he exited.

"Daddy!" April called after him. "I'm a grown woman!"

"Yes, yes you are, Jackson made sure of it," Alice murmured.

April glared at her sister before she followed her father outside. She walked to the tool shed and stood in the doorway while her father stood with his back to her, tinkering with something. She had been very close to her father growing up, more so than her sisters. Libby and Kimmy had spent a lot of time with their mother and Alice had always been fiercely, almost stubbornly, independent. She was Daddy's little girl so she was not surprised that he was having this reaction to her first serious relationship.

"Dad," she spoke softly. "Jackson and I are really serious. I'm going to marry him." She paused before she said, "He's already asked me to marry him."

Joe Kepner turned around to face his daughter. "He has, huh? Why don't you have a ring and why are you only telling us this now?"

She covered her left hand reflexively. "We were keeping it a secret because of everything that's happened at the hospital…with the accident. Only a few people know. Jackson is telling his mother today."

"Why didn't he give you a ring?" He repeated.

"We've had more important things to worry about than whether or not I have an engagement ring." He didn't seem pleased by her response but he didn't say anything else. "You're going to like him," she said after a moment. "I promise. He's really been there for me the past few years."

"Yeah, I know he has," he replied begrudgingly. April had been telling him and Karen a lot about Jackson Avery since they had met five years ago, and he seemed like a decent man. He made his daughter happy. She had practically been attached to her cell phone since coming home. He thoughtfully stroked his moustache. "I made Ben sleep on the couch the first time he visited."

"Yeah," she laughed, "you did." Her father had taken a long time to warm up to Ben.

"You wouldn't want me to give Jackson special treatment, would you?" He asked mischievously.

April frowned and sighed, "Dad. I'm thirty, when Alice brought Ben home she was twenty-two." It wasn't like she was planning on doing anything sexual with Jackson if they shared a bed. She just missed his arms around her.

"Fine," he conceded. "But I'm not happy about it."

April walked towards her father and wrapped her arms around his waist for a hug. "Thank you. You're going to love him," she reiterated.

"I better," he grumbled, "He's marrying my little girl."

* * *

Jackson returned to his hotel room after having a late dinner with his mother, sister, and grandfather. The meal was a fairly drama free affair, by Avery standards anyway. His grandfather didn't rehash any of the problems from his most recent visit to Seattle and Elizabeth politely inquired about April. He had a feeling that his family deliberately tried to keep the criticism of plastics and his career to a minimum because he was so happy about his engagement. He figured that it was his mother's doing and he really appreciated it. He did have to talk his mother out of planning a huge Boston, societal wedding but he had expected that. He firmly stated that he was getting married in Seattle and he was not about to invite half of Boston. She had pouted but she hadn't argued.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the piece of paper that his mother had given him out of his pocket. He grabbed his cell phone and tossed it from one hand to the other as he pondered the unfamiliar phone number. He had a tight knot in his stomach so he jumped to his feet and began to pace. He really wished that he had gone for that second drink at dinner. It would have really calmed his nerves for this moment.

He was really dreading make this phone call. He just didn't know what to expect. He wasn't expecting anything really, it's not like they were close. He decided to expect indifference, mild enthusiasm if he was lucky.

He took a deep breath before he decided to just bite the bullet and dial the number. Three rings went through before a mildly familiar voice answered.

"_Hello."_

"Hey Dad," he exhaled, "it's me…Jackson."

* * *

**A/N: Very family oriented chapter so let me know what you think! For anybody who's wondering, this fic will be posted on the same Tuesday and Friday schedule as For The First Time.**

**Next up is Jackson's visit to Ohio and I am literally gonna lose it because I have to wait 2 weeks for 9x03. Lol.**


	5. Welcome to Ohio

**A/N: So here it finally is: Jackson's visit to Ohio! The whole trip is one chapter so that's why it's longer than usual. Enjoy! And a Happy belated Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Welcome to Ohio**

April grinned as she spotted Jackson amongst the large crowd. It felt like much longer than four days since they had seen each other and his flight had been delayed by a half an hour, which had only served to put her on edge even further. He found her gaze and smiled back. He rushed towards her and dropped his backpack before he swept her off of her feet. She let out a small squeal as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

"It's so good to see you," he murmured as his arms encircled her waist even tighter.

"I missed you," she whispered before she kissed him again.

"I missed you too," he spoke against her lips. "Alex said I looked like I was in withdrawal."

She laughed softly as he set her back on her feet. "Welcome to Ohio," she smiled brightly.

He grinned playfully, "I like it so far."

A throat cleared behind them and April suddenly recalled the presence of her sister and brother-in-law. She blushed as she took Jackson's hand and lead him towards her family. "Jackson, this is my sister, Alice, and her husband, Ben."

He smiled brightly. "Jackson Avery, nice to meet you."

He shook Ben's hand before Alice pulled him into a friendly hug. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about _the _Jackson Avery."

Jackson smiled at April's flushed cheeks. "Good things I hope."

"Let's go get your bag," April stated as she skilfully redirected the conversation.

Jackson grabbed his backpack off of the floor and held April's hand as they headed to baggage claim. They grabbed his suitcase and headed to the Kepners' car, which Alice had commandeered for the trip to Columbus.

"It's a two and a half hour drive," April told him as they got into the backseat.

"That's fine," he smiled. It would be nice to sit in a car after all of the flying he had been doing lately.

He buckled his seatbelt and pulled April towards him so that she sat in the middle, pressed against his side. She smiled up at him as she adjusted her seatbelt before entwining their fingers.

The four adults made pleasant conversation as they left the city of Columbus. Alice and Ben were very nice and they didn't ask him any difficult, with the intention of making him squirm, questions. The youngest Kepner put him at ease and he really hoped that he felt this way around the rest of her family. However, based on everything that April had told him, he wasn't sure that would be the case. Alice had been the sister most excited to meet him and she seemed to be the least sceptical of their relationship. She also easily understood their careers and commitment to medicine since she was a nurse and her husband was a surgical resident himself.

"Ben, how did your intern exam go?" Jackson asked with genuine interest.

"It went really well," he answered with a smile through the rear-view mirror. "Number two in my year, I'm pretty pleased."

Jackson chuckled, "I was ranked number two after my intern exam. This one beat me."

He expected April to make an excuse or say something bashful but when he looked down at her he found that she was asleep on his shoulder.

Alice turned around in her seat and laughed quietly. "April always fell asleep on this drive when we were kids, and she barely slept last night because she was so excited to see you."

Jackson smiled as he stroked her hair. He hadn't gotten much sleep either. He almost felt a sense of relief that she had missed him as much as he had missed her. "So, Ben, have you declared a specialty?"

"No, I'm leaning towards general but right now everything is interesting."

"Yeah, don't worry about it too much right now," Jackson said wisely. "Dabble in a bit of everything. I didn't figure it out til fifth year."

"You chose plastics, right?" Ben questioned.

"Yup," he nodded. "But I spent a lot of time in cardio and a fair bit in general." He ran his fingers through April's hair as he said, "April spent a lot of time in neuro. She practically lived in peds her fourth year," he chuckled.

"We thought that she was going to choose peds," Alice piped up. "It suits her. We definitely didn't see her in trauma."

"She's really great in trauma," he said quickly. Trauma was intense and you got to see some pretty grotesque stuff when you worked in the pit but somehow it was where April fit the best. Trauma was never routine and it gave you an opportunity to still perform a wide variety of surgeries. April's organized; slightly bossy demeanour was perfect for the chaos in the ER.

"You're the first guy that she's ever brought home," Alice said after a moment.

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "No pressure."

"Just relax and be yourself," Alice advised. "You'll be fine. Everyone's gonna have a hard time not liking you when they see how ridiculously in love you are."

Alice had never even seen her older sister kiss a man in public and she had just made out with Jackson Avery in the middle of an airport. She was holding hands and snuggling, and the amount that they had talked on the phone in the past couple of days was staggering. April had never been so comfortable around a member of the opposite sex. She was definitely in love, if it hadn't been apparent before, it certainly was now, and Jackson Avery returned every single one of her feelings. She could see it in the way that his eyes lit up and his smile brightened when he looked at her. Alice liked him a lot. Her sister had hooked one of the good ones.

Jackson smiled as he rested his chin on top of April's head. He _was_ kind of ridiculously in love.

* * *

Ben pulled into the Kepners' long driveway and Jackson slowly got out of the car. April's childhood home was almost exactly as he had pictured it. A large, two-storey white house with an old, red, pick-up truck in the driveway. There was a red barn behind the house, green, beautiful land and cornfields for miles, and a dog lying on the front porch. It was Middle America, like something out of a magazine, and he had never seen anything like it. He was jealous that April had gotten to grow up here.

April stood at his side and spoke quietly, "I know its nothing special but—"

He cut her off with a kiss. "I love it."

She smiled brightly as her hand found his. "Okay, let's go inside."

He grabbed his bags from the trunk of the car and after a deep breath; April led him inside the house.

They were instantly greeted by a woman who had to be April's mother. She pulled him into a tight hug before he even had a chance to lay his backpack down. "It's so nice to finally meet you Jackson."

"You too, Mrs. Kepner," he replied slightly taken aback.

She pulled away and smiled brightly at the young man. "April, why don't you introduce him to your sisters and then let him go out back with your father and the boys?"

April nodded and gave Jackson's hand a reassuring squeeze. She stood on the tips of her toes and gave him a soft kiss after her mother returned to the kitchen. "Don't be nervous," she whispered.

He laughed, "I'm trying not to be."

At least April's family knew about their engagement now. So he didn't have to worry about telling them that but he was still nervous. He didn't meet a lot of parents. It was a natural reaction, he told himself. But he was an Avery. There was no way that April's family could make him as uncomfortable as his own sometimes did.

He and April walked into the kitchen and he met her other sisters, Libby and Kimmy, before he let her lead him out to the back patio where all of the men were gathered. There were also five children playing in the backyard. He shook hands with her father, Libby's husband, Paul, and Kimmy's husband, Scott. They were all large, burly guys, very physically imposing, and they all wore baseball hats.

April had done up little flash cards for him about her large family and he remembered most of the information. Libby was a teacher, like their mother. She had three kids aged thirteen, eight, and five, and her husband worked in construction. Kimmy owned her own business, Scott was a farmer like his father-in-law and they had a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. Both daughters lived less than an hour away and the Kepners had known their husbands since they were children.

Ben offered him a beer and he felt like he had already made an ally. They were both surgeons. Both city boys. They were both outsiders who had no business being on a farm.

"Joe will try to scare you a little but he's harmless," Ben whispered as he handed a bottle of beer to Jackson. "When he shows you the tractor, you're golden, that's kinda his way of accepting you."

Jackson laughed softly, "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, Jackson," Joe Kepner called out as he barbequed. "What kind of surgeon are you again?"

He swallowed nervously before he answered. "I'm a plastic surgeon."

"You have to do boob jobs and face lifts all day?" Paul asked with a laugh.

Jackson tried not to appear insulted or frustrated. Most people had that reaction when they thought of plastic surgeons. Thankfully, April chose that moment to return from the kitchen with a dish for her father. She pulled Paul's baseball cap down over his eyes and scolded him. "There's more to plastics than that. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Sorry sticks," Paul apologized with a chuckle.

"Sticks?" Jackson repeated with an arched eyebrow.

April rolled her eyes while Scott supplied, "April's nickname in high school."

April squeezed his forearm in warning and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't believe a word that they say."

Jackson grinned as he sat in a patio chair next to April's brothers-in-law, men who had known her her entire life. He was interested to hear all of the stories that they had.

April shook her head as she heard Jackson ask Paul and Scott about her younger years. She walked back into the kitchen where her sisters were surely waiting with questions and comments for her. She knew that her mother would reserve her opinion until she had spoken to Jackson herself.

"So," Libby began, "he's gorgeous, smart, and nice. What's he hiding?"

April laughed happily. "He's not hiding anything. What you see is what you get."

"Come on," Kimmy probed. "You love a project, there's definitely something wrong with him."

"What do you mean I love a project?"

After noticing that all of her older sisters were silent, Alice turned to April and spoke up. "What they're trying to say is that you love to fix people. I mean, you're a doctor…it's what you do."

"And you've always kind of done it with guys too," Kimmy finished.

April frowned and took a sip from her glass of wine as she pondered what her sisters were trying to tell her. They weren't entirely wrong. She had always fallen for men who were wounded in some way or another. It was why she had once had a huge crush on Alex Karev. A part of her had believed that she could help him in some way. But her relationship with Jackson wasn't like that at all. She had always been there for him, but she had never felt the need to "fix" him. She loved him, flaws and all.

"I'm not trying to fix him," she finally said. "If anything, he's fixed me."

* * *

After supper and a small game of soccer with April's nieces and nephews, Jackson volunteered to help Libby and Kimmy with the dishes. He was certainly more relaxed now. April's family was very nice and pleasant. They laughed a lot and they didn't spend hours talking about surgery and town gossip, and they seemed to like him. It was easy to see how much they cared for one another.

Her family had asked him all of the basic questions like where he was from, where he went to school, and what he wanted to achieve in the future. However, they had not interrogated him. The one thing that had caused some tension was the topic of plastics, but once he and April explained what he did on a daily basis, they had seemed sort of fascinated. Paul had asked him a lot of questions and Ben expressed a desire to spend more time in plastics when he returned to his residency.

He loved her family and he loved the fresh air. He loved Ohio so far.

He told April to stay outside while he joined two of her sisters in the kitchen. He had already gotten a chance to get to know Alice and he wanted the same opportunity with Libby and Kimmy.

"So why do you want to marry our sister?"

Libby didn't beat around the bush at all and he respected that. Jackson, however, had not expected to be asked that very specific, direct question. He awkwardly ran his hand over his head as he thought about the answer.

"I know that we've only been dating a month, and it seems fast," he admitted sheepishly and the two women in front of him nodded in agreement. "But we've been friends for five years and she's been the most important person in my life for the past two. It feels like it's been just me and her for a really long time and I want to keep it that way. I just didn't want to wait any longer to ask her to marry him. She makes me happy and she gets me, and I love her and I just want to make her happy. First and for most, she's my best friend so I'll always want to make her happy." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shrugged shyly. "How's that?" April's sisters were very important to her and he hoped that he had said the right things.

April's two sisters stared at him with a mixture of surprise and adoration. "Yeah," Libby whispered. "I think that covers it."

Neither of them had ever heard anyone talk about their tightly wound, brilliant, yet very insecure, sister like that. They weren't sure if they had heard someone talk about _anyone_ like that.

The silence was shattered with the screech of the sliding door and April stepped into the room. She looked at both of her sisters who were staring dreamily at Jackson. "What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"He loves you," Kimmy simply stated.

April screwed up her face in confusion. "You say that like it's a miracle."

"No, not at all," Kimmy laughed. "It's just…I…I gotta go find my husband."

Libby seconded her statement and they both rushed outside.

"Um, okay," April said puzzled. She walked up to Jackson and wrapped both of her arms around his waist. "What was that about?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"They asked me why I want to marry you and I guess they liked my answer."

"Aww," she grinned. She tilted her head up to kiss him. "I think they love you. I love you."

He placed both of his hands on her hips and kissed her again before placing his lips against her temple. "I brought you something," he whispered.

She took a step backwards so that she could read his expression. "You brought me something?" She inquired excitedly.

Before he had a chance to tell her what he had for her, Joe and Karen Kepner entered the kitchen from the living room.

"I put your bags in April's room," Joe told him as his eyes zeroed in on the placement of Jackson's hands.

Jackson slowly moved his hands from April's hips to cradle her elbows. "Thank you, sir," he replied.

"Why don't I give you the tour?" Her mother asked cheerily.

He nodded and April smiled to herself. It was her mother's way of asking to talk to him alone.

Mrs. Kepner showed Jackson around the house and it was clear to him that they were overflowing with pride for their four daughters. The Kepner home was one of those houses where the hallway walls were covered in family photos as many important milestones were documented. There were photos like this in the house that he had grown up in but not nearly as many. This house was much warmer and down-to-earth, not nearly as superficial as his childhood home. He grinned at all of the pictures of April throughout the years. She was right, she had changed a fair bit, but he still thought that she had been adorable.

Jackson also couldn't help but notice all of the religious adornments throughout the house. April's faith made that much more sense to him now.

"April always wanted to be a doctor, for as long as I can remember," Karen stated as they reached April's bedroom, the one that she had shared with Libby when she had lived here.

Jackson smiled as he sized up the bookcase full of medical and scientific textbooks. It was easy to tell which side of the room had been April's. There were tonnes of books and academic awards. Her sister's side of the room had teen novels and old photographs. Like she had told him, she had been solely focused on school in her youth.

"I wanted to be a teacher when I was younger," he revealed. He knew that April's mother would appreciate it since she was a teacher herself.

"What changed your mind?" She asked curiously.

"I decided to go into the family business I guess," he answered with a small laugh. "My grandfather is a surgeon, both of my parents are surgeons, and my older sister is a surgeon."

Karen smiled, "April was born to be a surgeon and you were too."

"I hope so." He leaned forward and fingered the chain hanging from April's bedpost. The pendant on it was a cross.

"Did you know about April's faith?"

Jackson stood up straight and turned back to April's mother with a shake of his head. "Not until we started dating," he answered candidly. He knew that 'dating' wasn't the accurate term but he wasn't about to tell her mother how he had really discovered April's religious convictions. "I had no idea."

"Did it surprise you?" Karen asked inquisitively.

"Yeah, it did. I was baptized but I don't…I mean, I never…I'm not sure…"

She smiled knowingly at the slightly uncomfortable young man standing in front of her. "I know Jackson," she said softly. "The important thing is that you're not afraid to talk about it."

"I'm not," he said confidently. "I respect April's beliefs because they're important to her."

Karen smiled at his response. Religion was a very controversial issue and one that could easily complicate even the most solid relationship. She was happy that Jackson's wasn't dismissing her daughter's faith. He was understanding and respectful. He had an open mind and that was exactly what April needed.

* * *

April waited until everyone else had gone to bed before she grabbed Jackson's hand and pulled him off of the sofa. "I wanna show you something," she smiled.

He was a tad baffled but he went along with her anyway. "Okay."

They walked into the kitchen and through the sliding glass door. They stepped onto the back patio and she excitedly led him onto the lawn. She lay down on the grass and he stared down at her for a moment before joining her. He had no idea what they were doing until she reached over and repositioned his head so that he was looking up at the sky.

"Whoa," he breathed. He had lived in the city his whole life so he had never seen the night sky so clearly before.

"I know," she giggled. "I figured you might like to see the stars. Libby and I used to do this all the time…just lay out here."

She laughed as she gazed up at the stars. She seemed so happy with his reaction that it made him smile uncontrollably. He loved that she was always able to appreciate the little things. He rolled over onto his side and cupped her jaw with his free hand. He simply stroked her face before he leaned down to kiss her.

"I love you," he murmured before gently capturing her lips again.

She slipped an arm around his neck and returned the kiss. "I love you too Jackson and I'm really sorry about all the questions and everything."

"Don't apologize. It wasn't so bad. They love you; they're just looking out for you. They don't want to see you get hurt. I get it." Honestly, Jackson felt that the only member of her family that he hadn't won over was her father but that was understandable. Even her nieces and nephews had seemed to enjoy his company.

She smiled, "Thank you for understanding. You passed with flying colours."

They kissed again before he returned to lying on his back. He played with her hand that was closest to him as they looked up at the night sky. They talked quietly about her family and he told her a little more about his trip to Boston. He had told her all about his mother's reaction to their engagement and his sister's job interview over the phone. But he had left something out.

"I called my Dad."

He spoke so quietly that she wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. She turned onto her side and rested her chin on his chest. It was dark but his face was illuminated by the light from her back porch. "You called your Dad?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"What did he say?" She asked tentatively. She knew that this could potentially be a very touchy subject for him.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and ran his fingers through her hair. "I told him that I'm getting married and he said that he's happy for me and that he wants to come to the wedding."

She soothingly rubbed his chest. "Well that's good, right?"

"He also said he would come to my high school graduation," he said flatly, "and my twenty-first birthday party and my graduation from med school. I don't have high hopes."

She scooted upwards and fiercely kissed him. She knew right then that she would make sure that Jackson's father attended their wedding.

When she broke the kiss, he genuinely smiled up at her. _This_ was why he was marrying her, because she was the only person that could make him feel good about himself when he was at his lowest. "Hey," he began as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "Do you want to see what I brought you?"

"Oh! I totally forgot! Yes please!"

He laughed at her childlike enthusiasm as he reached into the pocket of his jeans. He pulled out the ring box and placed it on his chest next to her hand.

"Oh," she gasped. She carefully picked up the small jewellery box and sat up. She had been waiting for this but it suddenly seemed so momentous. She had assumed that they would pick out her engagement ring together but here he was, surprising her in her backyard.

Jackson sat up next to her and asked with a nervous laugh, "Are you going to open it?"

She slowly opened the box and let out another loud gasp. Even in partial darkness, she could tell that it was perfect. It wasn't too big but it was definitely expensive. "God Jackson, it's beautiful."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it," she breathed.

He gently pried the box out of her hands and took the ring between his thumb and index finger. "My mother scolded me about my proposal so I have to do this part right." He took her left hand and slowly slipped the ring on her finger. "There," he smiled triumphantly.

"Wow," she mumbled to herself. It was only sinking in now that she was really engaged. She held her left hand out in front of her and just stared. "Wow," she repeated.

He laughed as he pulled her in for a kiss. This moment was pretty surreal for him as well. They were officially engaged. She was wearing his ring. He entwined the fingers of their left hands and ran his thumb along her engagement ring.

She pulled away from the kiss with a cheerful laugh. "Let's go to bed."

They walked back into the house and up the stairs to April's bedroom.

April laughed when she returned from the bathroom and found Jackson sitting on Libby's bed. She shook her head at his respectful but highly unwelcomed gesture. "We're engaged, we're not sleeping in separate beds," she told him seriously.

He obviously needed very little convincing because he joined her on her side of the bedroom with a grin. "If you say so." He kissed her gently before they slipped into the twin bed. He was so content and so exhausted from his recent travels that he closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Jackson awoke the next morning with a mass of red hair covering his chest. April's bed was so friggin' small that she was practically sleeping on top of him. Not that he minded their proximity…except that he was hot, he was practically sweating through his t-shirt, and he was very hard…and horny…and they were in her childhood bedroom.

She shifted and he grimaced as her leg brushed against his erection. She pressed her face against his neck and murmured sleepily. "Its really warm, you should take off your shirt." She started to push the material up his stomach so he leaned forward to remove the shirt and toss it on the floor. April hummed pleasantly as he lay back on the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist. She had really missed this, sleeping next to his large, strong body with his arms around her. She whispered her thoughts in his ear and as he stroked the exposed skin between her t-shirt and her shorts, she quickly realized that she missed something else just as much. She remembered thinking that nothing physical would happen if they shared a bed, but once again she had been quite naïve and had overestimated her willpower. His compatibility with her family made him even more attractive, he had given her an engagement ring last night, and his body felt so firm beneath her.

April started to kiss his neck as her hand moved over his chest and he laughed at the cruelty of the situation. He grabbed her roving hand. "April, I can't," he groaned.

She placed her mouth against his and kissed him hungrily. "You can't what?"

"I can't do _this_," he explained gruffly. He would have been much more convincing if one of his hands wasn't feeling up her ass.

"I've never had a boy in this room before," she revealed. "I didn't think it would make me so…" Her sentence trailed off but her hand slipped out of his grasp and down to the bulge in his sweat pants.

The fact that she had never had a guy in this room before was a turn on for him too. What male didn't think about screwing his girlfriend in her teenage bedroom? But he couldn't eat breakfast with the Kepners wearing his 'I just got laid' face. It would be a dead giveaway. Her father would kill him and bury him in the cornfield out back where no one would ever find his body. And just yesterday he had had a long and wonderful conversation with her mother. He wouldn't be able to make eye contact with either of them if he and April made love right now. He would feel too guilty.

He abruptly sat up and April settled in his lap. One of his hands palmed her waist while the other cradled her face. He stroked her cheek with his thumb and sighed regretfully, "I can't have sex. I want to…" He paused to growl, "I really want to…of course I do…but I can't. I deflowered you and your Dad can tell and he hates me for it and I promised myself and Sloan that I wouldn't touch you and we're in the bedroom you grew up in and Jesus is everywhere." He finished his ramble by taking a deep breath. "No sex in Ohio."

She wasn't used to hearing him rant, that was usually her job. It was amusing and cute. She massaged the back of his skull with her fingertips and coyly bit down on her bottom lip. "No sex at all?" He firmly shook his head. "What about oral sex?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. "You're killing me."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned forward to give him a soft, innocent kiss. "I'm sorry. You're being very sweet."

"Or very stupid."

She continued to kiss him sweetly. "You're doing great with my family. I love you."

"I hate Ohio," he pouted boyishly.

She giggled as she kissed along his jaw. "Jackson, are you sure you don't want me to just—"

He immediately interrupted her, "Please don't say it." He wouldn't be able to resist if he heard her say it.

"Okay," she giggled, "I'm sorry." She kissed him one last time before she climbed off of his lap and planted her feet on the floor.

Jackson lay back down on the bed and watched April move across the room toward the window. She pulled her hair up before she opened the window to let some air into the room. His eyes trailed down her body before he slowly got out of the bed. He loved her slender legs and elegant neck. It also didn't escape his notice that she wasn't wearing a bra. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the back of her neck as his hands slipped under the front of her shirt.

"Okay, so I changed my mind," he declared mischievously.

She laughed, "No you haven't. You're just listening to a certain appendage."

He groaned because he knew that she was right. He was just really horny. "Well, can we go to second base?" He asked in a whisper.

She grinned to herself. "Yeah, we can do that." She stifled her laughter with her hand as he dragged her back to her bed.

* * *

When April and Jackson came down to the kitchen for breakfast, Alice noticed the small change in April's wardrobe immediately. "What is that on your hand?" She squealed.

April blushed as Alice grabbed her hand and inspected her engagement ring. She had forgotten that she was wearing it; it felt so natural already. "Jackson gave it to me last night," she said as her mother came over to look at the ring as well.

"Platinum band and three stones. Nice work, Dr. Avery," Alice complimented.

"Thank you," Jackson smiled.

"Did you have any help picking it out?" She asked curiously.

April turned to her fiancé and waited for his answer with interest. "I picked it out myself," he replied. "But Sloan came with me."

April smiled softly and gently squeezed Jackson's forearm. "That was sweet of him."

"Who's Sloan?" Alice inquired.

"He's my mentor, and my friend," he said quietly.

"That ring really is lovely, Jackson." Karen smiled at him before she moved back towards the stove and began to take up breakfast.

After breakfast, Joe fixed Jackson with a stern gaze. "Would you like to help me with some work outside Jackson?"

"Sure, sir," he replied politely.

"Dad," April began warningly as she finished her coffee. "Be careful with him, his hands are worth more than you and Mom can afford."

Alice let out a boisterous laugh but quickly provided an excuse for her reaction. "Right, because he's a surgeon."

Jackson chuckled awkwardly while April glared at her sister.

"I'm sure he'll be able to handle it," Joe said as he got up from the kitchen table.

Jackson followed the older man after pressing a kiss to April's temple.

The red-head waited until the two men had left the kitchen before she smacked her younger sister's arm. "I am going to kill you," she said through clenched teeth.

"No, you won't, you took an oath to do no harm," Alice retorted quickly. "Besides," she lowered her voice, "I heard you giggling this morning, don't think I didn't know what you were doing."

April rolled her eyes. "We weren't doing anything." They had just made out a little, there was some heavy petting. "Jackson is a gentleman. You just have a dirty mind." She got up out of her chair and walked towards the sink to join her mother. Her three sisters had already told her that they loved Jackson but now she wanted her mother's opinion. "What do you think of Jackson, Mom?"

"He's a very nice man," she answered honestly. "He was very open when he talked to me and he obviously adores you. I like him a lot, and all that truly matters to me is that he makes you happy." It didn't hurt that he and April were getting married in a church and he wanted children.

"Don't worry Mom, he makes me really happy." She turned to look out the window and frowned. "I just hope Dad doesn't scare him off."

* * *

After two hours of hard labour, Jackson and April's father took a break by sitting on the tailgate of the old family truck. Jackson used the sleeve of his t-shirt to wipe his sweaty forehead.

"I've never done anything like that," he confessed breathlessly.

Joe Kepner chuckled, "I figured."

Jackson laughed a little to himself. He had assumed that this was some form of a test. The older man knew that he had grown up in the city with a privileged lifestyle. He hadn't done a lot of physical labour in his time.

"So," Joe began slowly, "you're going to marry my daughter."

Jackson swallowed nervously. "Yes, sir."

"All of my sons-in-law asked for my permission before they proposed," he stated.

Jackson met Joe's stare and tried not to appear as frightened as he truly was. Honestly, the thought of asking for permission hadn't even crossed his mind but April's family was traditional. Before he had a chance to scramble words together, the older man spoke again.

"But I suppose I have to cut you some slack because I know that April would never have brought you here if she wasn't completely sure that you're the one." He readjusted his baseball hat. "I have four girls and April's the only one that's not married, and she's always been the one that Karen and I have worried about the most." Jackson tilted his head in curiosity so he continued. "She was the first to leave Ohio and she's been away for so long, so focused on becoming a great doctor, and she was always teased when she was growing up so she hasn't always had the highest self-esteem. And with everything she went through after that shooting. We thought that she had just…given up."

Jackson nodded in understanding. They thought that she had given up on love and he had often gotten that impression from April as well. She just didn't see all that she had to offer and he was trying his hardest to change that.

"But you seem like a good man," Joe added. "And I'm really grateful that you've taken care of my little girl the past couple years."

"Thank you, sir. I love April…a lot," he declared timidly. He felt a little uncomfortable; he didn't exactly have a lot of personal experience with chats with overprotective fathers, but he knew that he needed to be honest. "And I tell her that as often as I can. I know her really well and I want to take care of her." He really didn't have any reservations about April and the future that he envisioned with her. He knew that if anything happened to tear them apart then he would be devastated. "I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly.

Joe clapped his future son-in-law on the back and hopped off of the tailgate. "You can start calling me Joe. Come on, I haven't shown you the tractor I use on the fields yet."

Jackson grinned to himself as he remembered Ben's words. It seemed as if he was officially welcomed into the Kepner family.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of this jam-packed chapter! :)**

**Oh, and for anyone who doesn't remember the things that have already been mentioned about Jackson's father, you can find it in Chapter 7 of For The First Time. :)**


	6. Eight Days

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing the last chapter! One reviewer commented on April's nickname and I must confess that I got the inspiration for that from my mother. Her nickname in high school because she was so skinny was slinky. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's, April and Jackson would already be together. Lol.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Eight Days**

They had barely stepped foot in their apartment when April roughly grabbed the lapels of Jackson's jacket and pulled his mouth down to hers. He dropped the luggage that he was carrying and laughed as she impatiently tugged him towards his bedroom.

He kissed her back hungrily as she pushed his jacket off of his shoulders. "Can't keep your hands off me any longer?" He teased.

She laughed, "Don't even try to play it cool." She knew for a fact that he was dying for some alone time in a state that wasn't Ohio. She kissed down his neck as she worked on his belt.

He grinned predatorily as he pushed her up against the wall next to his bedroom door. She slipped her arms around his waist and up his back as they kissed. "You're the one who kept trying to seduce me in that freakishly small bed of yours," he countered in a husky voice.

She giggled as she pulled away from his mouth and started to push him backwards. "Get in the bedroom."

"I love it when you boss me around," he smirked.

He lifted her off of her feet and carried her into his room. He kicked the door closed behind him and removed April's jacket with their mouths still melded together.

They hadn't had sex in eight days, Jackson had been counting, and he had wanted to make love to her since he put that engagement ring on her finger. But Ohio had been a strictly sex-free state on his insistence. Now, they were both excited and aroused…coiled like tight springs and their official engagement was a powerful aphrodisiac. It didn't come as a surprise to either one of them when they didn't even manage to make it to his bed.

After pulling his t-shirt over his head, Jackson fell back into the armchair in the corner of his room. He took April with him and she sat in his lap as he kissed her and furiously unbuttoned her blouse. "Fuck," he groaned as she slipped a hand into his open jeans. She giggled at his cursing and began to pepper kisses along his jaw line. She ran her hand along his hard length and his breathing sped up in response. His hands tightened on her waist as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

He swore again and she gently tickled the nape of his neck with her fingertips. "You shouldn't be so vulgar," she whispered jokingly.

He chuckled as he tangled a hand in her hair. "You love my dirty mouth."

She threw her head back in laughter and he took the opportunity to kiss down her throat. He popped open the button on her jeans and she squirmed away from him and got to her feet. He groaned in protest until he realized that she was standing to remove more articles of clothing. He quickly rid himself of his jeans and boxers before he helped his fiancé. He leaned forward and kissed along her flat stomach as he pushed her pants down over her hips.

Once she was naked from the waist down, he spun her around and pulled her back down to him. He clutched her hips as she surrounded him in her warmth, with his muscled chest pressed against her smooth back. He pushed her hair to one side so that he could gain access to her neck.

"We've never done it like this before," she said breathlessly.

"Yeah, I know," he said against her skin. "Is it okay? Are you okay? Do you wanna stop?"

She bit down on her bottom lip as Jackson's fingers slipped between her legs. "No," she panted. "I'm great."

He grinned against the crook of her neck as she wrapped her feet tightly around his calves and started to rotate her hips. "You feel so good," he whispered. His lips trailed along her shoulder and he pulled down the strap of her bra with his teeth. He had no idea why the undergarment was still on. He opened the clasp and hastily pushed the cotton material down her arms.

She moaned as one of his hands instantly covered her breast and he began to tweak her nipple. He raised his hips and her eyes almost rolled back in her head. He was hitting _that_ spot inside of her while kissing _that_ spot on her neck. And his fingers…She really liked this position. She wrapped her arm around his neck and ran her hand along the back of his head.

"Eight days is way too long," she gasped.

He chuckled at the fact that she had counted the days too. "Definitely," he agreed eagerly. She turned her head towards him and he kissed her aggressively as she began to tighten around him.

* * *

Alex returned to his apartment to find Kepner and Avery making out on the couch. They were so into each other that it sometimes made him jealous and angry, not that he would ever admit that to them. It forced him to remember when he had had that all-consuming desire for somebody, and he generally didn't like to remember Izzie. It made him sappy and sentimental.

And Kepner and Avery were like two horny teenagers most of the time. It made him want to get his own place but then he thought about Kepner's cooking and the fact that she cleaned the apartment and did his laundry. He could suffer being around them a little longer. They would probably want to get a house or something, just the two of them, in the not too distant future.

"Oh, you two are back," Alex stated as he stepped into the living room. "Did you guys hump all the way back from Ohio?"

April giggled as she pulled away from Jackson's mouth. She readjusted herself in his lap but kept her arms around his neck. They had redressed and made it out of the bedroom only to wind up kissing on the couch.

"Hey Alex, how was your week?"

"Time without you two? It was great," he replied snidely. He sat down in a chair and turned to the happy couple. "How was meeting the family, Avery?"

"It was great," Jackson answered. "Everyone was incredibly nice."

He had genuinely enjoyed his time in Ohio. April had been right, there wasn't a lot to do in the small town of Moline, but she had taken the time to show him around. He spent most of his time getting to know her family and it was easy to see where April got her kindness and compassion from. The Kepners were nice and hardworking. Her mother's cooking was amazing and he had further bonded with her father through sports. And he had enjoyed hearing some of April's more embarrassing stories that her sisters and brothers-in-law had been desperate to reveal. He was looking forward to his next visit with his future in-laws.

"Do they all have that squeaky voice? Is that genetic?" Alex chuckled as the red-head glared at him. His eyes widened in shock as April laid her hands on Jackson's chest and he spotted the diamond ring on her finger. "Whoa! What is that?"

April looked around in a panic. "What? Where?"

"That freakin' thing on your hand!"

"Oh." April smiled softly and laid her left hand on her knee. She hadn't even considered taking the ring off. They hadn't talked about whether or not they were going to tell their friends and coworkers but they had no other choice now. "We're a…" She hesitated slightly on the word.

"We're engaged," Jackson finished with a bright smile.

Alex's eyes widened even further. Now all of his friends were going to be married. "Are you serious?"

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, I proposed a while ago but we were keeping it a secret because of everything that had happened." He wrapped his arms around April's waist and pulled her even closer to his chest. He loved telling people that they were engaged, especially since their families already knew. His mother loved April and her family seemed to approve of him.

"Wow," Alex simply stated as he took a moment to process the new information. He didn't really like to think about weddings either because they reminded him of his own. But Avery was his buddy and Kepner was…Kepner, and they were good together. "Well congrats, we should go to Joe's later and grab a drink."

"Thanks Alex," April replied happily. "And yeah, Joe's sounds great."

"Cool." Alex nodded in confirmation before he headed into the kitchen.

"Cool," Jackson repeated with a grin. His lips returned to April's neck as his hands ran up her back. "This is fun. Celebrating our engagement is fun."

April laughed and slowly started to pull away from him. "It is fun but if we're going out then I should get in the shower."

He smirked mischievously as he kept his hands firmly planted on her waist as he allowed her to stand. "Great idea."

She giggled as she leaned down to kiss him. "Alone. You coming with me would be counterproductive."

"Fine," he conceded with a small pout. He playfully smacked her backside as she walked away.

"You two sicken me," Karev commented as he walked back into the kitchen with half of a sandwich in his mouth.

Jackson chuckled and leaned back on the couch. "You can move out if you want."

"Believe me, sometimes I do." He took another bite of his sandwich before he spoke again. "So, you proposed to Kepner?"

He said it rather sceptically but Jackson was not surprised. "I know that you think its fast and you're not exactly a believer that marriage does anything but ruin your life—"

"I said congratulations, didn't I?" He interrupted.

"Yeah because that's what you say when someone tells you they're engaged," Jackson reasoned.

"I meant it, okay?" Karev argued. "Would_ I_ do it? Obviously not, but you and Kepner are get married, have kids, live happily ever after kinda people so congratulations. I'm gonna buy you a beer."

"Thanks," Jackson smiled. At least his roommate was honest and it would take a lot more than a pessimistic Karev to kill his newly engaged buzz.

* * *

April, Jackson, and Alex were only at Joe's ten minutes or so before Cristina and Meredith walked through the door. The two women joined them at the bar and April turned to them in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I texted them," Alex explained.

"And our husbands made us come," Cristina added.

Meredith smiled, "Congratulations. Let me see the ring." April extended her left hand and she took a good look at the engagement ring. "Very nice Jackson."

Jackson grinned and ordered drinks for the two newcomers.

"The Virgin Mary and pretty boy are getting married," Cristina said thoughtfully. "Who would have predicted that? Congratulations. Are you still going to wear white?"

April ignored Cristina's teasing comment and asked Meredith. "Who's watching Zola?"

"Derek's mother is here for some time so she's watching her. Derek loves stuff like this so he insisted that I come."

"And Yang is going through scalpel withdraw and Hunt wanted to get her out of the apartment," Alex snickered.

Cristina sipped her drink and did not argue. It was the truth after all. She was going stir crazy and she couldn't wait until her fellowship began and she was cleared for surgery.

Cristina was dying to hear about any uncomfortable moments from Jackson's visit to Ohio so April and Jackson talked about their trip. Meredith told them a little about Derek's physiotherapy progress and Alex revealed that since their residency ended he had been picking up shifts in the clinic. April was a little worried that Alex was running himself ragged; between still working and everything that he was trying to do for Robbins he must be exhausted. He needed to take a break. She decided that she would talk to him about it a little later, or get Jackson to mention it to him. He didn't always take her advice well.

They continued to make conversation, mostly about hospital related things, and Jackson kept a firm hold on April's hand the whole time. He really didn't care if it looked possessive or grossly affectionate. They were having drinks with a few friends to celebrate their engagement and he wanted to hold her freakin' hand. His newly engaged buzz was still strong.

He was in the middle of ordering a second round from Joe when Alex asked Cristina, "Do you have the inside scoop on any new fellows?"

She shook her head. "Nope, all I know is that it's the five of us. Owen might be hiring attendings to help out in peds and neuro but he is close to hiring a new Head of Cardio." She spoke rather glumly; she was really going to miss Teddy. She hoped that the new attending wasn't a complete idiot. She still wanted to learn.

Jackson sighed and took a sip of his drink. "Its going to be my sister, I can feel it."

Cristina and Alex turned to him in surprise. "Your sister?"

"She works at the Brigham, right?" Meredith asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, and she's good." He smiled a little as he felt April give his hand a reassuring squeeze. "She told me that she got an interview." He pointedly looked at Cristina and laughed, "You two would be perfect together Yang."

She raised her drink and said, "I'll let you know if I hear that another Avery is coming to Seattle."

"Oh I'm sure she'll call me to gloat," he chuckled humourlessly.

"I like her already," Cristina jibbed. She took a sip of her new drink before she remembered that she did have some information on a new hire. "Owen did hire a new urologist. Mara Keaton. You guys remember her from when she was here to spy on the Avery family slacker?"

"Yeah, I remember," Alex replied. "She's hot."

Jackson shifted in his seat and took a large gulp of his rum and Coke. He had assumed that he would never see Mara Keaton ever again and now she would be working at his hospital. The urology department often consulted with plastics. He just hoped that it wouldn't be awkward.

"She seemed nice," April chirped. "Was she nice, Jackson?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "she was pretty nice."

Well, Yang's news successfully killed his buzz.

* * *

**A/N: Some smut and fluff with just a little bit of a cliffhanger to get you through your weekend. Please leave a review! :)**

**Can't wait til Thursday! Lol.**


	7. Thank You For Telling Me

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Thank You For Telling Me**

While Alex worked shifts in the clinic, Cristina counted the days until fellowships started, and Meredith spent time helping Derek rehabilitate, April and Jackson used some of their vacation time to explore Seattle. They had lived in Seattle for five years but they hadn't seen much outside of hospital walls and it really was a beautiful city. It also afforded them a nice opportunity to experience the feeling of dating. They already knew each other so well that when they had first started sleeping together they didn't go on a lot of dates because they hadn't needed that initial 'getting to know you' phase that dating provided. But they were engaged now and April wanted to spend more time outside the hospital, alone, with her fiancé, so she had proposed that they take turns planning activities and outings.

They had gone to the Space Needle, a Mariners' game, and explored Pike Place Market. They had gotten on the Ferris wheel that extended over Elliott Bay, which had been an absolutely petrifying experience for April. They had gone to a few museums and the Seattle Aquarium. They went to the movies, and dinner, and ballroom dancing. It turns out that Jackson actually could dance and it was very sexy.

If possible, she was even more in love with him than she had been before. He just had such a great attitude towards new things, and he was so incredibly sweet and affectionate. He always wanted to hold her hand and kiss her. He was disgustingly generous, he _always_ insisted on paying for everything, which she turned down on many occasions. Her constant enthusiasm didn't annoy him and his mere presence made her feel comfortable in any situation.

Once again, it was her turn to plan the day and she had decided that this time they weren't going anywhere. They were staying in bed until it was time to get ready to go to Sloan's. He had invited the two of them and Alex over for dinner tonight.

They had slept in, she had made him breakfast in bed, and they had already made love three times and it was barely past noon.

She kissed him softly on the lips before trailing kisses down over his chin and throat.

"April," Jackson groaned, "Woman, I need to rest. You've worn me out."

She giggled and continued to kiss his chest. "Are you sure you're too tired?" She asked as she reached the trail of fine hair extending from his navel.

He grunted faintly and tangled a hand in her hair. This day was definitely at the top of his list of favourite days but he was exhausted, and she was more energetic than usual. "Hold that thought. I just need like twenty minutes," he murmured pleadingly.

She grinned as she returned to his mouth. "Okay, I've broken you, I'm sorry," she said in between kisses.

He tightened his arms around her waist and laughed. "I've created a sex-crazed monster, that's the problem." He stopped talking to kiss her hungrily. "A gorgeous, sex-crazed monster who is very hard to turn down."

She kissed him one last time before slowly getting out of his bed. She smiled to herself as she pulled on one of his t-shirts. It was sort of powerful to know that he wasn't able to say no to her. She slipped back under the covers and lay down on her back. He slid next to her immediately and tossed an arm across her waist. He started to nibble on her jaw and she squealed loudly. "Jackson, that tickles."

He stopped and smiled at her. "Sorry, I'll be good if you will."

"I promise," she said with her sweetest smile.

"Okay." He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her. The simple beauty of her face still startled him. "So, I've been thinking about our honeymoon. Where do you want to go?"

Her eyes lit up excitedly. "Oh! I've never even thought about that! I haven't exactly been many places! What about you?"

He had seen quite a bit of the world. When the Avery family vacationed they didn't do it like normal people so he had never gone to Disneyland, or been camping, or taken a road trip, all things that April had experienced, but he had seen New Zealand, Australia, China, Thailand, South Africa, and most of South America. He had spent time in Europe with his family and he had backpacked across the continent with friends after his undergrad.

"I wanna go wherever you want to go," he responded. "So think about it. Make a list, you like those," he said teasingly. He watched her ponder the possibilities and he smiled before leaning down to kiss her. "Or we could go somewhere in the Caribbean and just lie on a beach for days…just because I want to stare at you in a bikini for hours on end," he added mischievously.

She laughed, "I don't even own one."

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean its like going to the beach in your underwear; actually a two piece bathing suit probably has less coverage. It's really way too revealing for me, and I'm really pale. My skin doesn't do well in prolonged periods of intense sunlight. I have to wear like SPF 60," she rambled. She stopped talking when she noticed the dazed expression on his face. "Jackson?"

"You don't own a bikini?" He questioned with a frown.

She playfully pushed his face further away from hers. "You are such a man!"

He chuckled, "I had the mental image and you just crushed my dreams." She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off with a kiss. The thought of April in a bikini got him really excited. Her body was absolutely fantastic and she was way too insecure about it. He positioned himself above her and pulled the shirt she was wearing over her head. "How about this?" He began. "My birthday is probably going to be during our honeymoon so that's what you can get me."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "Just when I thought that your mind isn't in the gutter all the time."

"Hey, you've kept me in bed all morning as your slave, what else am I supposed to be thinking about," he argued.

She laughed and pulled him down on top of her. He did have a valid point.

* * *

April and Jackson stepped into Sloan's apartment with a smile. Jackson handed Sloan the bottle of wine that they had picked up and told him, "Karev just texted me, he's leaving the hospital soon."

"Thanks so much for having us over," April said cheerily.

The older man chuckled. "It's the least I can do for all the cooking you've done for me lately."

They both knew that this dinner had a much deeper meaning than simply thanking April for giving him a few meals but neither of them said anything. It was a thank you for keeping an eye on him and his family since the accident. Sloan was coping with everything a lot better than they had anticipated and Robbins would be released from the hospital soon. Things were slowly getting back to normal.

April and Jackson hung up their jackets and followed Sloan into the kitchen. "What can I get you to drink?" Their host asked energetically.

"I'll have the usual," Jackson chuckled.

"Wine is fine for me, thank you," April answered.

Sloan poured April a glass of wine and handed his protégée a glass of rum and Coke. "So," he began, "I heard the news. New Head of Cardio: Elizabeth Avery."

Jackson took a sip of his drink and nodded. "Yup." His sister got a department head position and he once again felt like the family slacker. She had called to let him know, just like he had anticipated.

April soothingly rubbed his back as she said, "I just read a journal article about her and the experimental valve replacement research that she was involved in at the Brigham."

Sloan raised an eyebrow in appreciation. "Nice. We should start a clinical trial Avery."

"In what?" Jackson asked with a laugh.

"I don't know but when I figure it out, we'll start one."

Jackson continued to laugh but he raised his glass. "I'm up for it."

April grinned and stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him. "Sounds awesome."

Sloan smiled at the happy couple before turning back to the stove.

"Oh, can I help with anything?" April asked politely. Sloan shook his head as Sofia cried out from his bedroom. "I'll get that," she offered happily.

April headed towards his bedroom and Jackson watched her walk away. "Have a good day Avery?" Sloan asked with a sly grin as he poured himself a drink.

"Yeah, why?" Jackson questioned suspiciously.

"Kepner's neck."

Jackson couldn't suppress his smirk. Makeup was only able to do so much so a few of the hickeys that he had left on her fair skin were still slightly visible. "Yeah, it was a good day," he answered simply. An absolutely incredible day. He wanted to spend all of his free time with April…naked. Her energy had been unreal and she had been in an even better mood than usual. It had been fun and intense.

"So, we can either talk about what you did today or your sister?" Sloan proposed.

Jackson didn't need to think very long before he responded. He didn't want Sloan teasing April about their sex life. "My sister is brilliant. She's a great surgeon. We're just very different. You'll understand when you meet her."

"Has she met Kepner?"

"Nope." Jackson took a drink as he shivered at the thought of April meeting his sister. He was afraid that Liz would try to tear April apart. His older sister was way worse than his mother.

"Not looking forward to it, huh?" Sloan asked with a grin. "Afraid she'll scare Kepner away?"

"Oh yeah," he admitted timidly. "She can be…intimidating." Intimidating was probably an understatement.

"Kepner's in it for the long haul," Sloan assured him. "For some unknown reason," he added good-humouredly.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically but he was smiling. Before Sloan had a chance to interrogate him any further, there was a knock at the door. "Probably Karev," he said as he moved to answer it.

Alex stormed into the apartment in a sour mood. "Hunt hired an interim Head of Peds," he declared.

"Who is it?" Sloan asked curiously. Arizona had been fretting over this decision for weeks.

"Stark."

"Well," Sloan replied slowly, "that's unexpected. Beer, Karev?"

"Please," he nodded. He took off his jacket and took a seat on one of the stools at the island counter. "That guy hates me. Its gonna suck working for him again."

Sloan handed the perturbed peds surgeon a beer. "He hates all residents on principle."

Alex laughed humourlessly after taking his first drink. "Not true. The dude _loved_ Kepner. He's going to be pissed that she's in trauma and he's stuck with me."

"Who's going to be pissed that I'm in trauma?" April asked in confusion as she returned to the kitchen.

"Stark's coming back," Alex told her.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise and she awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oh," was all she had to say on the matter.

Jackson watched her curiously as she took a very large sip from her wine glass. He really had no idea what had happened between her and Stark. He knew that they had gone on at least one date. He had heard some hospital gossip but he hadn't actually talked to her about it. He had been preoccupied at the time. The Stark thing had happened at the point when his friendship with April was probably at its weakest. He had just started dating Lexie so they didn't talk much because…well, he had been too busy having sex. All that he knew now was that he didn't like the thought of the man returning to Seattle Grace Mercy West.

First Mara Keaton, then his sister, and now Stark. If he believed in conspiracy theories he would think that Owen Hunt was trying to ruin his life.

* * *

After dinner, Jackson helped Sloan clean up in the kitchen while Alex and April stayed in the living room. April was playing with Sofia and Alex continued to sulk over his poor luck.

"I need to ask you a question," Jackson began in a low tone.

"Go ahead," Sloan replied.

"Should I tell April that I slept with Mara Keaton?" He had been toying with that question ever since Yang had told them the news that Hunt had hired the urologist, but he couldn't seem to make a decision. He really needed Sloan's opinion.

Sloan shrugged as he washed a dish. "Yeah, probably, since she's going to be working at the hospital. You wouldn't want her to find out and then come back and say, 'how come you never told me'."

Jackson nodded in agreement. "That's true." He paused before he asked, "Do you think she'll be upset?"

"Hard to say," he answered honestly. "Would you be upset if a one night stand from her past came back to work at the hospital?"

Jackson laughed a little at that. "That's not possible, remember?"

"Hypothetically," Sloan retorted quickly.

"Yeah, I think I would, I mean, I'm not happy that Stark is coming back and I'm pretty sure that nothing happened between them."

"Well, there you go, be prepared for her to be upset."

Jackson took a deep breath. He had his answer but he wasn't looking forward to April's reaction.

"Need any help?" April asked as she bounded into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Jackson's waist.

"Nope," Sloan smiled. "All done here."

"Thank you so much for dinner," she said with a bright smile. "It was delicious. We'll have to return the favour soon."

* * *

Jackson slowly slipped out of bed, making sure not to wake April. He wasn't good at having those kinds of conversations so he had let April fall asleep before talking to her about Stark or Mara Keaton. He needed to tell her about Mara Keaton and he wanted to know about Stark. With those things on his mind, he couldn't get to sleep.

He walked into the living room to find Karev watching television and drinking beer. "What's up?" He asked groggily as he sat on the couch.

"Wishin' I had gone to Hopkins," he grumbled.

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh yeah," Karev nodded. "Stark is a dick. I bet ya he'll only let me have the minimum amount of cases, and it'll be the bad ones."

Jackson scratched his head and focused on the television as he contemplated asking Karev about April and Stark. Karev probably had an idea of what had happened because of all of his time in peds and he would be honest, and he was currently drunk. He ran his hands along the knees of his sweatpants as he asked, "Karev, what happened between him and April?"

Karev laughed a little before he answered. "She said that they were just friends but really she was just too clueless to see that he wanted to get in her pants. I mean," he stated with a raised eyebrow, "he invited her over to his place to watch a movie. She didn't know that it really meant that he wanted to screw on the couch while the movie played in background." He snickered before taking another drink from his beer bottle.

Jackson smiled a little at April's naiveté. She definitely wasn't the best at reading signals from the opposite sex. She even said herself that she was really bad at flirting. But he'd be lying if he said that Stark returning to Seattle didn't bother him. The man had once had feelings for his fiancé and it made him uncomfortable.

"I don't think they ever did anything," Karev added. "She knew that we would have teased the shit out of her if they did."

Jackson was definitely comforted by the fact that she hadn't even kissed the dude. He was way too old anyway.

"Thanks. Night Karev," he said as he stood up. He was ready to go back to bed.

He returned to his bedroom and slipped back into bed. April rolled over restlessly and he realized that he had woken her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her shoulder. "Sorry I woke you."

"S'okay," she mumbled. She waited a minute before she stated perceptively, "You could have just asked me about him."

"Who?" He questioned innocently. She smelled amazing from whatever moisturizers and crap she used before bed so he buried his nose in the crook of her neck.

"Robert."

"Who?"

"Stark," she clarified.

"Oh. I know I could have asked you, I just wasn't sure how," he admitted. "Did you two…" He forced the word out, "date?"

"Yes…No…Sort of…Its weird," she sighed. "It was weird and confusing." She rolled over onto her back so that she could look at him. "We went out a handful of times and it was nice. We had a lot in common and he's actually really nice once you get to know him. We were friends." And he had enjoyed talking to her, and people, especially men, didn't typically enjoy talking to her. "Then Alex and everybody else totally freaked me out and we stopped spending time together. By the time that he left, he couldn't stand me just like everybody else." A part of her still kind of regretted what had happened between her and Robert. She had been scared away by peer pressure and she wasn't proud of it.

Jackson thought for a moment. "Oh, okay. But he wanted to be more than friends, right?" He asked tentatively.

"Yeah," she blushed. "He did."

"Oh, okay," he repeated. Everything between her and Stark was out in the open so there was only one issue left to address. "I slept with Mara Keaton," he blurted out.

Her mouth dropped open a little but she recovered quickly. "Oh, okay," she echoed. She turned back onto her side but grabbed his arm to ensure that his body was still wrapped around hers.

"You're not upset?" He asked in shock.

"No. Thank you for telling me," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

She had nothing to be upset about. She was more than aware that Jackson had slept with women before her, they weren't together at the time, and she had pretty much told him to suck it up and spend time with Mara Keaton while she was in Seattle. It didn't come as that big of a shock to her.

He ran his hand up her side and kissed the back of her neck. "Good, because I was thinking about you the whole time anyway. It really made me feel like a jerk."

April reopened her eyes and sighed in frustration. "I just told you that I'm not upset so you don't have to lie about it. _That_ makes me upset."

He moved his hand underneath her shirt to caress her skin. "I'm telling you the truth," he told her passionately. "I thought about you weeks before San Francisco." She rolled over once again and fixed him with a disbelieving stare. "Ever since you told me what Sloan said about you taking one for the team," he chuckled.

She couldn't help but laugh. "I could have killed him for that."

"I know," he grinned. "But we owe Sloan big time."

"Yeah," she smiled. "We do." After a brief pause she said, "Okay, I love you, I believe you, can I go back to sleep now?"

He grinned naughtily and began to pull her t-shirt upwards. "Not a chance."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review! :)**


	8. To Be an Avery

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I hope that you're excited to meet Jackson's sister! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual!**

* * *

**Chapter 8 – To Be an Avery**

April smoothed down the front of her summer dress for the thousandth time after checking on dinner for the millionth time. Jackson chuckled at her anxiousness as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You look great," he assured her. "Dinner smells great." He kissed her on the top of the head and straightened her necklace. "It's just my sister; I can call and tell her that I don't want her to set foot in my apartment if you want me to."

"No, Jackson," she laughed. "I'm just nervous, that's all."

"I can call her," he said in what he hoped was a persuasive tone. He really didn't want his sister to come over and he was much more nervous than April, but he was trying to appear as calm as possible. He didn't want to freak her out.

She spun around and gently kissed him on the lips. "No, I'll be fine. I have to meet her eventually, right?"

He nodded. He supposed that was true. Maybe it was just better to get it over with now. "Just relax, okay?" He cupped her jaw and kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he deepened the kiss while pressing her body against the kitchen counter.

She pulled away from his mouth with a smile. "Later," she promised.

She moved out of his reach and back towards the stove and he frowned. He doubted that after having dinner with his sister, they'd be in the mood to do anything tonight. His sister liked sucking the life out of his girlfriends. She was very selective, which was probably why she hadn't had a serious boyfriend in a really long time.

Their doorbell rang and he could have sworn that he saw April jump. "I'll get it," he announced before leaving the kitchen. He headed towards the front door and took a deep breath before opening it. "Hey Liz," he smiled.

"Baby brother," she grinned. She stepped into the apartment and embraced Jackson, kissing him on the cheek. "Nice apartment," she said as her brother removed her coat.

Jackson laughed at her attempt at a compliment. He had helped her move into her new place and it was much fancier. His apartment was much too modest and reasonably priced for his sister's taste. "Can you try to be nice this evening?" He asked pleadingly.

She looked at him with an offended facial expression. "I'm always nice."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure you are." With an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, he led her into the kitchen where April was waiting for them. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his side. "Liz, this is April, my fiancé."

April extended her hand and smiled. "It's really nice to meet you Dr. Avery."

Jackson chuckled, "Call her Elizabeth."

"Just don't call me Liz, its bad enough that Jackson calls me that."

April continued to smile brightly. "Dinner should be ready soon."

"Do you want something to drink, Liz?" Jackson asked. His sister nodded so he moved towards the cupboard above the refrigerator to get their bottle of scotch.

April stayed near the stove to be sure that everything was cooking perfectly. She had never been so nervous to serve her cooking to someone. Elizabeth Avery had a powerful, confident presence not unlike Bailey or Torres. She was beautiful in a subtle, sophisticated, understated way. She was tall and slender but she didn't have Jackson's bright smile or striking eyes. Her eyes were brown and framed by expensive, stylish glasses. They did, however, have the same lovely skin tone and perfect bone structure. She was also impeccably dressed.

"So, April," Elizabeth began after taking the first sip of her drink. "You work at Seattle Grace Mercy West too?" She already knew that her brother had known the red-head since internship but she figured that question was the best way to start the conversation.

"Yup, I'm a trauma surgeon."

Jackson watched his sister purse her lips in displeasure and he glared at her in warning. He loved that April was a trauma surgeon. Sure, when she started as an attending the hours would be much more hectic and unpredictable than any other speciality, but she worked in the ER, she literally saved people's lives every day.

"And you turned down a fellowship at Mass Gen?" Elizabeth was curious as to what kind of person turned down Mass Gen, besides her brother.

"I did. It just wasn't the right time for me to leave Seattle."

"I told her to turn it down," Jackson stated defensively. "Harper Avery's way of doing things isn't for everyone," he said pointedly.

"It was good enough for me. Jackson just likes to break family tradition," she jested. "He never was one to conform."

April turned her head to catch Jackson's eye and she smiled at him. His mouth twitched upward awkwardly as he took a drink from his glass. "Dinner's ready." She told them excitedly and Jackson sighed in relief.

The three of them sat at the kitchen table and ate dinner, which consisted of roasted chicken and vegetables. Elizabeth was polite in complimenting April on her cooking skills and the choice of wine. They talked about medicine, Seattle Grace Mercy West, and Elizabeth's work at the Brigham before the real interrogation began.

His sister learned from the best: their mother.

"Jackson told me that you're from Ohio."

April nodded in confirmation. "I'm from a small town a couple hours outside Columbus. I grew up on a farm."

"What kind of farm?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"My Dad grows corn but we have most of the regular farm animals."

"Did you like it there Jackson?" She could not picture her brother outside of the city and she definitely hadn't pictured him dating a farm girl.

"I did," he replied enthusiastically. "I loved the fresh air, the clear skies, how quiet it was. It was great."

"And where did you go to school, April?" She asked her next question just as soon as Jackson had finished talking.

"I did my undergrad at Butler and med school at the University of Chicago."

Elizabeth smiled and nodded but April wasn't so oblivious that she didn't know when she was being judged. She was proud of her education but a lot of people around her had attended more prestigious schools. Meredith had gone to Dartmouth and Cristina had finished her rigorous education at Stanford. Jackson had spent eight years at Harvard, and most likely, his sister had too.

Jackson dropped his left hand beneath the table and rubbed soothing circles on April's kneecap. He felt like he was on an episode of that really bad dating show where they have hometown visits. "We set a date for the wedding," he said to ease the rapidly increasing tension. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in interest and he elaborated. "September the eighth. Invitations are almost ready to be sent out."

They had already given the date to her family and his mother. Her parents had already offered to pay for everything but Jackson insisted that it wasn't necessary. They were each willing to pay for the majority of the wedding on their own. Her parents were definitely going to buy her dress though and Catherine Avery was trying to convince them that their honeymoon was a perfectly suitable wedding present from her. April was completely against the idea but Jackson rationalized that his mother was impossible to talk out of anything and that they may as well take advantage of her generosity.

They were only two weeks away from starting their fellowships so they had wisely used their vacation time to do some wedding planning. Since they were having a small wedding in less than three months there wasn't as much to do, which they were thankful for. They had booked the church, a small venue for the reception, and a catering company. The guest list was finalized and it was small, less than one hundred people. They still had a lot of little things left to do but Jackson's number one priority was to make sure that the wedding didn't stress April out. That was the last thing that he wanted.

"You know, Mom is still disappointed that you're not getting married in Boston," Elizabeth said with a tone of disapproval.

April turned to Jackson in alarm. He hadn't mentioned that to her.

"Mom is fine with me getting married in Seattle," he argued quickly. "She knows that I don't want it to be a big spectacle."

"It's the most important day of your life," she said rather mockingly. "Isn't it supposed to be a circus?"

Jackson sighed and April stuttered. "It doesn't have to be big and brash to be special."

Jackson smiled and squeezed her leg. "Exactly. Besides, the wedding is just the beginning." He leaned forward and kissed April lovingly on the lips.

Elizabeth had never seen him act like this with a woman that he was seeing and she wasn't sure what to make of it. And he seemed really excited about getting married. "You're going to change your last name, right April?"

The red-head faltered. It wasn't something that she had given a lot of thought to. She was proud of her surname. She was the first person in her family to graduate from medical school so she loved being addressed as Dr. Kepner. And Meredith and Cristina had kept their last names. "I dunno, it might get kinda confusing if there are too many Dr. Averys running around the hospital," she laughed lightly.

Jackson disguised his frown by taking a drink from his glass of water. He had imagined that she would take his last name. He thought that she would be traditional about that sort of thing. Besides, April Avery sounded really _really_ good. It definitely did something to his body.

"But our children will have the last name Avery," she added happily.

That made Jackson smile. He loved talking about having kids with April.

"How many kids do you want to have?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Well," April began with a chuckle. "Jackson wants to have four but I grew up with three sisters so I know that four is a lot to handle. I'm thinking two or three."

"We'll see," he said with a smirk. He ran his hand up the inside of her leg and she playfully pushed it back down. "As long as we don't have to argue about soccer versus basketball. Basketball," he murmured cheekily.

"Come on, everyone plays soccer when they're little," April retorted.

"We didn't," Elizabeth stated.

Jackson raised his glass towards his sister, actually grateful for her presence in that moment. "See, basketball is way better. I'll let you win the violin versus piano lessons debate."

April giggled and teasingly poked Jackson's side. "What about Dartmouth versus Yale?"

Elizabeth scoffed before Jackson had a chance to respond. "Averys go to Harvard."

And just like that…things were tense again.

* * *

After dinner and coffee in the living room, Jackson volunteered to give his sister a ride home. She had arrived in a cab and he knew that she was dying to dish out her criticisms.

"Whatever you wanna say, just say it," Jackson said as soon as they got aboard his car.

Elizabeth dissolved into laughter as she buckled her seatbelt. "I can't believe that you asked _her_ to be an Avery!"

"I asked her to marry me," he corrected.

"Same thing! By the way, she _has _to take your last name! It's not even an option. She's so…she's not what you're usually attracted to."

"I know," he agreed. "She's different, that's why I like her."

She had learned quite a bit about April Kepner and based on what she had already heard, it was easy to form an opinion. "She's perky and sugary sweet. She's insecure and passive. She doesn't hold herself like a surgeon. And she's a trauma surgeon! At least plastics is delicate and artistic. Trauma is rushed and sloppy, and trauma surgeons are usually the residents too indecisive to choose a real speciality!"

Jackson tightly clenched the steering wheel. "I'd like to point out that your new Chief of Surgery is a trauma surgeon."

"Owen Hunt also served in the Army, that's completely different," she argued. "She's not from money. She's not Ivy League. She's from _Ohio_," Elizabeth continued to rant. "And Mom and Grandpa are okay with you marrying this girl?" She asked incredulously. "Are you signing a pre-nup?"

"No!" He practically screamed. "I'm not signing a freakin' pre-nup!" His sister was way too caught up in the obligations that accompanied being an Avery. "Do you have anything nice to say?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"She's cute," she offered.

"She's cute," he repeated with a bitter laugh. He pulled up in front of his sister's new apartment building and angrily shifted the car into park. "Well thanks Liz, for having such an open mind, as always. I really appreciate it," he said sarcastically.

"Come on Jackson, I'm just being realistic," she explained. "As soon as you two get married, you know what's going to be expected of her, and she's not used to any of it. You need someone who grew up like we did."

"I'll see you when I go back to work," he murmured. He would need that time to cool off.

"Jackson," she sighed sadly. "I'm not trying to be mean. I'm trying to save you both some heartache."

He ignored her. "Bye Liz."

* * *

April slowly and sullenly moved around the kitchen. She had expected their dinner to go a lot smoother. She took out a large plate of dinner for Alex and placed it back in the oven to keep it warm. She did the dishes and then changed into her pajamas She sat down on Jackson's bed and stared at the two magazines on the bedside table. One was a bridal magazine and the other was a medical journal. She quickly decided on the medical journal and began to read. She didn't feel like looking at wedding dresses tonight.

She heard the front door open and shortly after, Jackson walked into the bedroom. He tossed his jacket into the chair and sat down on the end of the bed. "Hey," he greeted softly.

"Hey," she returned.

He sighed and scratched his head. She wasn't looking at wedding magazines tonight, which was a very bad sign. He needed to do something to make things up to her he just wasn't sure where to start. He climbed towards the top of the bed and repositioned himself so that he was sitting behind her. He stretched his legs out on either side of her and started to gently massage her back. She gathered her hair to one side and stayed completely focused on the article in front of her. "What are you reading about?" He whispered.

"Stem cell research at Columbia." He ran his hands down her sides with light pressure and she squirmed. "Stop it, you know I'm ticklish."

Unlike usual, there was no playfulness to her voice. And her muscles were very tense. He placed his chin on her shoulder and sighed. "Do you still want to marry me?" He asked fearfully.

"What? Of course I do! I just…I just," she groaned in frustration at her own inarticulateness. "You're not having second thoughts because of what happened this evening? I've learned to know when I'm not liked and she's your sister. I mean, if my sisters didn't love you it would make me think."

"Elizabeth and I don't have that kind of relationship. She thinks about a lot of things that aren't important to me," he told her honestly. "She's happy being alone so she doesn't understand what we have." He placed a hand on the back of her skull and rotated her head towards him. He kissed her cheek and the side of her mouth before hungrily finding her lips. "Nothing's going to make me _not_ want to marry you," he said against her mouth.

She turned around and knelt on the mattress as she held his face so that they could continue to passionately make out. He lay back on the bed and she crawled on top of him. He ran a hand down over her backside and she moaned. He smiled against her mouth and she pulled away from him as a comical thought occurred to her. "If I let you win all the other debates, can our kids go to Yale?"

He laughed loudly, "You know what? They can go wherever the fuck they want!"

She giggled and kissed him again before she had a more serious thought. "Jackson," she began softly as her fingers played with the collar of his shirt.

"Yeah?" He could tell that whatever she was about to say wasn't as light-hearted as her previous comment.

"Do you want me to take your last name?" She had noticed his reaction to the subject at dinner.

"Um, I kinda do, yeah." He looked away from her shyly. "I like the way it sounds, ya know? April Avery. But I understand with work and everything."

She couldn't help but smile. She liked the way it sounded too. "I'll think about it okay?" She gave him a quick kiss. "Maybe I'll do the two last names thing."

"April Kepner Avery," he pondered aloud. "I can deal with that." He threaded a hand through her auburn tresses and kissed down her neck. "I love you and you're perfect for me. I'm sorry about my sister."

"It's okay. I love you too," she sighed, "so much."

* * *

**A/N: SO MANY JAPRIL FEELS FROM LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE AND NEXT WEEK'S PROMO! However, to be honest, I am concerned that they seem to be just having sex. I'm getting a bad feeling that they may give April another love interest soon :(**

**Anyway, we'll always have fan fiction, please leave a review! :)**


	9. Just Relax

**A/N: As always, a big thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Just Relax**

Jackson lay on his bed with the latest issue of _Sports Illustrated_ as April finished brushing her hair. They had just finished dinner and now she was getting ready to go to work. "Can you explain to me again how Karev talked you into working the night shift with him? And since when is the clinic open all night anyway?" He asked annoyed.

"It's only for this week," she explained. "The clinic is promoting women's health and they need some extra hands. I volunteered." They were short on female doctors and some women are much more comfortable when their physician is a woman. She understood and had told Alex that she could help if he needed her. He had picked tonight to take her up on her offer.

"I would have volunteered too if you had asked me," he sulked.

"I know," she chuckled. "I thought that you could use the night to yourself…to relax. We're going to be starting our fellowships soon."

He frowned. "And what am I supposed to do?" Alex and April would be gone and Sloan was spending the night with Robbins and Torres. He would be intruding if he visited. Meredith was with her family, and he and Yang didn't exactly hang out a lot. He definitely wasn't going to call his sister. He wasn't about to go to Joe's alone either.

April chuckled as she sat next to him on the bed. He was practically pouting. "Read, watch TV, I dunno." She leaned forward and kissed him. "Just relax and stop acting like a baby," she told him light-heartedly.

"I'm not," he argued petulantly.

She lightly patted his chest. "Sure, you're not. Listen, I got you something, I was going to wait until later but since you're in such a bad mood I'll give it to you now."

He smirked as he hooked a finger in the belt loop of her jeans. "What is it?" He questioned excitedly.

She laughed at the direction his thoughts had taken. "It's not _that_ kind of present."

"Oh, well, I'm totally okay with _that_ kind of present, just so you know for future reference."

"I bet you are." She stood up and motioned towards the door. "Its in my room, I'm gonna go get it."

She walked into her bedroom and grabbed his present from her closet. It wasn't anything too big, just a little engagement/beginning of fellowship gift. Jackson had a secret obsession with sneakers and he had always bought a new pair before beginning another year of residency. She thought that it would be a cute gesture if she bought him the pair to start his fellowship.

She returned to his bedroom and happily placed the box in his lap. "Here you go!"

He smiled as he tore open the wrapping paper. He grinned boyishly as he pulled out his brand new Nikes. This present was almost as good as _that_ kind of present. "Sick! Thanks!" He kissed her in thank you. "But I didn't get anything for you."

"That's okay," she smiled brightly. "You got me a ring."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. "Thank you," he repeated. He already knew that she was kind and thoughtful but he hadn't expected her to spontaneously buy him something. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" He asked suggestively.

She giggled as he nibbled along her jaw. "Can you rub my feet tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Anything else?" He slipped his hands under the back of her shirt and dropped his mouth to her neck. "Anything…at all?"

She tilted her head to the side and moaned, "Maybe."

Jackson grinned triumphantly as she slowly started to cave. She had just as little will power as him when it came to this, she just wouldn't admit it. "I can at least give you _that_ kind of a thank you," he whispered.

She giggled again and placed both of her arms around his neck.

"Okay!" Alex announced as he appeared in the doorway of Jackson's bedroom. "Cool your jets Avery. Let's go Kepner."

April pecked Jackson on the lips before she got to her feet. "Seriously, relax tonight, please." She knew that he would never confess to it, but he had been tightly wound ever since dinner with his sister. He needed a night to himself.

Jackson groaned and laid his head back on the pillow beneath him. "Karev, I want you to move out."

Karev chuckled at Jackson's serious expression. "Don't worry, she'll be back. You'll just have to use your hand tonight," he teased.

April smacked Alex's arm as she passed him. "Leave him alone. Goodnight Jackson!"

"Bye! Have a good night!" He called out unenthusiastically.

The front door slammed shut and Jackson bit his lip as he thought about what he would do tonight. He didn't spend a lot of time alone in this apartment. He didn't spend a lot of time alone, period. Truthfully, he wasn't used to spending a lot of time without April.

* * *

Two hours later, Jackson was sitting on the living room couch watching baseball. After doing a load of laundry, he had gotten a few beers out of the refrigerator and ordered a pizza. He could do this whole relaxing alone thing.

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket and he answered it immediately. It was a text from April.

_How are you doing?_

He replied: _I'm watching the game. I'm relaxing._

_Good!_

He chuckled at her excitement. _Are you busy?_

_Not really but I should get back to work. Love you! xoxo_

He smiled as he typed his message. _Love you too._ He really wanted to send her dirty text messages but it probably wasn't a good idea to get her flustered around patients. He tucked his phone back in his pocket and settled into the cushions of the sofa.

He had just gotten comfortable when the doorbell rang. "Who the hell could that be?" He muttered to himself as he set his beer down on the coffee table. He hopped off of the couch and walked into the porch. He opened the front door and to say that he was surprised by the person that greeted him was an understatement. "Brooks?"

"In the flesh Avery!" The man on the doorstep announced happily.

Jackson stared in shock before he pulled his old friend into a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here now! I just flew in!"

Jackson looked at the bag slung over his shoulder and the large suitcase at his side. "And you're looking for a place to crash?"

Brooks grinned. "You still know me so well. My apartment isn't ready til the end of the month but I have a job to start soon."

Jackson opened the door wider to allow Brooks to step inside with his luggage. "I'll have to run it by my roommates but it should be cool," he stated. Karev wouldn't care and April was too kind to turn away an old friend of his.

Brooks turned to him with another broad grin. "Do you really think that I'd come here unannounced without a gift?"

He held up the bag he carried in his hand and Jackson laughed. "Vodka?" It had always been Brooks' drink of choice.

He nodded, "You know it!"

Brooks hung up his jacket and Jackson led him into the living room. He couldn't believe that Liam Brooks was in his apartment. They hadn't seen each other for a few years now and hadn't spoken to each other in way too long. They had known each other practically their whole lives, since they were young boys. They had gone to grade school, college, and med school together, and they had been as close as brothers during those years. They had done everything together and had lived together for years. Then Brooks had decided to do his residency at Mass Gen while Jackson had rebelled against his grandfather and moved to Seattle. They had stayed in contact at first but they were both so busy with their work schedules, and then the shooting had happened and Jackson just didn't know how to explain anything about that day and the aftermath to him so they had slowly lost touch. They had always promised to meet up at the Boards but Jackson had been preoccupied, to say the least.

"So what are you doing here?" Jackson asked with a laugh as they took a seat on the couch.

Brooks leaned forward and grabbed a slice of pizza out of the box on the coffee table. "I told you! I live here now, got a job at Seattle Grace Mercy West. Neuro fellowship," he explained excitedly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jackson inquired in disbelief.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," the other man explained. "So I got your address from your mother."

Jackson laughed, "Of course."

Brooks pulled the bottle of vodka out of the bag and handed it to Jackson. He went to the kitchen to grab two glasses while they continued to talk.

"So where are these roommates?" Brooks yelled.

"They're working at the hospital's free clinic tonight," he replied as he returned to the living room and sat back down on the couch.

"Surgeons?"

He nodded. "Yup, our year."

"What are their specialities?"

"Trauma and peds."

Brooks guffawed. "First you specialize in plastics and now you're living with a peds surgeon. What has happened to you Avery?"

Jackson rolled his eyes as he took his first drink of vodka. "You've been brainwashed by my grandfather. Fuck off or I'll kick you outta my place," he quipped. "Why did you pick Seattle anyway?"

"To study under Derek Shepherd," he explained. "I know that he's recovering from that plane accident but it's still a great department. There are a lot of other great doctors here too; Webber, Sloan, Hunt, and I figured working with you might be fun."

Jackson nodded in agreement; working together would be fun. They had always had a great time together. He really had missed the guy.

"As long as there are plenty of beautiful women," Brooks added with a mischievous grin.

Jackson chuckled, "You haven't changed a bit."

Brooks had also been quite a ladies man. In fact, Brooks reminded him of some of the stories he had heard about a younger Mark Sloan. The guy came from a rich family, he was very good-looking, and he was a talented surgeon. Women fell at his feet and he took advantage of every opportunity. Since they were sixteen, Brooks' three favourite things in the world were women, booze, and medicine. He hadn't always been the best influence but for the most part they had been equal partners in crime.

Brooks must have been reminiscing as well because he asked, "You're still going to be my wing man, right?"

He shook his head and smiled. "I am permanently off the market."

"Really?" Brooks asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm engaged," he stated gleefully.

"No fucking way," Brooks breathed in disbelief. "Avery, you're getting married?"

"I am," he laughed, "September eighth, and I can't wait."

"So tell me about the lucky lady?"

"She's smart and sexy, and kind, and funny—"

Brooks interrupted him, "Jesus Avery! You are disgustingly in love." The dreamy expression on his face said it all.

"I am," he admitted. "She really is the most incredible person I've ever met."

"You're going to make me gag. Is she a surgeon?"

"Trauma surgeon. She's one of my roommates actually. We, uh, we were living together before we started dating," he explained further.

Brooks finished his drink and poured himself another glass. "So, you two were friends first? That's not exactly your MO, Avery."

Jackson laughed a little. It was true that in the past he hadn't exactly had many female friends. "Yeah, she's my best friend really. We've known each other since internship."

"Wait." Brooks paused and pieced together bits of conversations that he and Avery had since starting their residency. "Its not the chick…shit, what's her name? Something with an A. Annie, or Amy, or—"

"April," Jackson supplied.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. "I remember you talking about her!" However, everything that he remembered would not have led him to believe that they would ever start dating, let alone be engaged to be married. Avery had never seemed very interested in her.

Jackson nodded with a smile before changing the topic of conversation. "So Brooks, what's new with you?"

They talked, reminisced, and drank for hours. It was just like old times and Jackson felt like he was five years younger.

* * *

Jackson grinned like a fool when he heard the front door open. "That's probably April," he declared excitedly as he jumped off of the couch.

April was startled to see Jackson walk around the corner from the living room. "What are you doing up?" He just grinned at her and had that predatory look in his eye. "Jackson, what—?" She squealed when he grabbed her waist and swiftly lifted her into his arms. He covered her mouth with his and kissed her hungrily. She quickly pulled away from him, the alcohol on his breath made her a little lightheaded. "Wow, you're drunk." She squealed again when he pinched her butt. "And grabby." She couldn't contain her giggle when he started to nip her earlobe. "Jackson, put me down!" She heard a throat clear and she turned her head to find a total stranger standing in the doorway leading to the living room. "And we have company…"

Jackson raised his head and grinned. "Right!" He set April back on her feet but he kept his hands on her hips. "This is Liam Brooks; I've known him my whole life. Liam just took a job at Seattle Grace."

April smiled and outstretched her hand. "April Kepner, nice to meet you."

Jackson squeezed her hips and smirked. "My fiancé," he added.

"I've heard lots about you," April continued. Liam Brooks was in pretty much every childhood and college story Jackson had ever told her.

"Nice to meet you too," he smiled. "I've also heard lots about you."

"Brooks needs a place to stay for a while," Jackson whispered in her ear. "Can he stay here?"

"Sure," she nodded. "Of course you can stay here." She miraculously managed to extract herself from Jackson's grasp in order to remove her jacket. "You can stay in Jackson's room. I'll go and change the bed."

She headed down the hallway and Jackson watched her with a grin. "So?" He asked quietly once April had turned into his bedroom.

"I couldn't really tell with your hands all over her," Brooks jested.

Jackson drunkenly punched him in the shoulder in response. The two men said goodnight and he quickly headed to April's bedroom. He stripped out of his clothes and climbed into her bed.

When she entered the room, she was carrying a glass of water. "I thought that you could use this." She laid it on her bedside table and he smiled at her. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself. The very last thing that she had expected to find when she returned home after a night shift was a drunken Jackson.

"Thank you. Now can you get naked and join me in bed."

She laughed as she leaned down to place a kiss on the top of his head. "How much did you have to drink tonight?"

"Not that much. Just enough to relax."

She laughed and shook her head at his denial. She removed her long-sleeved shirt and jeans and grabbed an old, baggy t-shirt to sleep in. She took off her bra before she pulled the shirt over her head. She sat down on her bed, atop of the covers, and giggled as he reached for her. She took his hands and entwined their fingers. "We're going to stay up for a little while so that you can sober up." She knew that he wouldn't want to awake hungover.

"Well, since we're going to be up anyway, might as well do something fun." He sat up and started to push her onto her back.

"Jackson," she chastised. Her bed sheets slipped below his waist and she saw that he actually was naked. "Your friend is in the next room."

"We have sex with Karev in the next room all the time," he stated matter-of-factly.

He leaned forward to kiss her neck and she moaned. "But that's different," she argued weakly.

"April," he whispered. "I'm drunk and I'm begging you to take advantage of me."

She laughed heartily and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You promised you'd rub my feet," she whispered back.

He raised his head and grinned at her. "I will rub whatever you want."

She scooted away from him, towards the end of the bed. She lay on her side and placed her feet in his lap. His lower body was once again covered by her sheets and it was much less distracting for her, although his entire body was gorgeous. She could just stare at his chest, arms, jaw line…the list was rather long because he looked like he could be a sculpture.

"Stop looking at me like that," Jackson whined as he massaged her foot.

"Like what?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"You know what you're doing. You're biting on your bottom lip and your eyes are dark, and your hair is kinda messy. You're teasing me. Knock it off."

She laughed at the slurring of his words. She had never seen him this drunk before, something about it was kind of adorable.

"Can you take your shirt off at least? Let me look at your boobs."

She playfully kicked at him. "You're a horndog!"

"You already knew that," he grinned broadly. He placed a kiss on her ankle before slowly working his way up her leg.

She giggled as he reached her thigh and started to push her t-shirt up over her hips. "How's your level of sobriety right now?"

"I'm still really drunk," he replied honestly. "But I relaxed like you told me to and I didn't get the chance to say thank you earlier, and you are the most amazingly beautiful woman." He placed his hands on her hips and flipped her onto her back. He felt her hands move over his head as he ran his nose along the waistband of her panties. "And April?"

"Yeah," she breathed as she looked down to meet his heated gaze.

"I really just want to go down on you until you pass out."

"Oh," she squeaked.

"Yeah," he smirked devilishly. He slowly pulled off her underwear and carelessly tossed them behind him. "So now it's your turn to relax."

* * *

**A/N: Who's excited for Grey's this week? I know I am! Please leave a review! :)**

**Just curious: How many of you would read a Japril fic set outside the Grey's universe, ie. one of them isn't a surgeon? I got a weird plot idea the other day but I kind of like it. Lol. So let me know!**


	10. The Roster

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 10 – The Roster**

Just before noon the next day, April groaned and squirmed as she felt Jackson's lips on her back. "Jackson, I can't orgasm anymore," she murmured, "I'm tired and numb." He chuckled huskily and she raised her head as she realized what she had just said. Countless women complained about unsatisfying lovers and she shared a bed with the most amazing man.

Last night had been…ridiculous. He had been seductive, passionate, fiercely determined, and eager to unhinge her. If any inch of her body had been previously undiscovered by him, it certainly wasn't anymore. They had only made love once but she had climaxed six times. His tongue was just maddening…she may have actually passed out. And he hadn't let her return the favour.

She leaned forward to wrap an arm around his shoulders and pepper his face with kisses. "You are amazing. Thank you for last night."

"My pleasure," he grinned. He kissed her on the top of the head and soothingly ran a hand down her back. "Go back to sleep. I'm going to get up and get some coffee." He was a tad hungover and needed a little bit of a pick-me-up.

"Do you want me to make you some breakfast?"

He furiously shook his head. She had worked a twelve hour shift and then he had had his way with her for a couple more. "No, sleep. Regain feeling in your extremities," he teased.

She let out a small giggle and he kissed her temple before getting out of bed. He pulled on a pair of sweat pants and padded out to the kitchen where he found Brooks poking around. "Looking for something?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Just getting used to my new surroundings," Brooks replied. "Everything is very organized."

"Yeah, that's April," he laughed as he turned on the coffee pot.

"Where is your girl?"

Jackson grinned, "She's tired."

"Yeah, I heard. Oh! Oh God, Jackson! Right there!" He laughed as he finished his imitation. "You always were a horny drunk."

Jackson chuckled but quickly said, "Listen, don't do that around her, it'll make her really embarrassed." Brooks grabbed a box of cereal out of the cupboard and he shook his head. "Not that one, that's Karev's cereal."

Brooks grabbed an alternative box of cereal and the carton of milk out of the refrigerator. "It'll embarrass her?" He asked as he took a seat at the kitchen table. "What is she? A virgin?" He joked. He caught Jackson hang his head and shift his feet awkwardly and his mouth dropped open in shock. "She's a virgin!"

Jackson grabbed two bowls and two spoons and joined Brooks at the table. "Lower your frickin' voice," he said in a harsh whisper. "She was a virgin, yeah."

"At thirty?" He questioned in disbelief.

"Twenty-nine," Jackson corrected. "It's not like she didn't have the opportunity. She had her reasons. They were good reasons," he explained cryptically. He didn't feel the need to divulge April's religious convictions to Brooks.

"So you popped her cherry?"

Jackson cringed at his words. "I was her first time," he rephrased. The coffee finished percolating so he got up to get himself a cup. "Want some coffee?"

"Yeah, man."

He returned to the table with two cups of coffee and observed Brooks' thoughtful expression. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just that your relationship makes more sense to me now."

Jackson bristled defensively. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Brooks didn't get a chance to respond because the front door opened. Karev breezed into the kitchen and Jackson introduced the two men.

"Karev, this is my friend, Liam Brooks. He's going to be the neuro fellow at Seattle Grace Mercy West. Brooks, this is my other roommate, Alex Karev." They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries before Karev moved towards the coffee pot. "Karev, Brooks is crashing in my room until his apartment is ready."

"That's cool with me," Karev replied nonchalantly. He grabbed a bowl and a spoon and joined them at the kitchen table for some breakfast.

Karev and Brooks started to get to know each other while Jackson quietly ate his cereal. Brooks' last comment was not sitting well with him. He had expected disapproval from his sister. She thought that Averys needed to associate with people from money and power, and with surgeons who made headlines. For Elizabeth, his future wife didn't need to be sweet, and kind, and loving. She needed to be rich, and overbearing, and focused to almost an obsessive degree. He could handle Elizabeth's views and opinions. But Brooks knew him way better than his sister and he had assumed that the man he considered to be a brother would be able to see that April was perfect for him. He wasn't sure that he'd be as indifferent after hearing what Brooks had to say.

April walked into the kitchen a little while later after taking a shower. She had changed into a pair of pyjama pants and an old Mercy West t-shirt. "Good afternoon," she smiled as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "How's the clinic, Alex?"

She walked towards the kitchen table and Jackson swiftly pulled her down into his lap before she had the chance to sit in a chair. She was surprised by his action but she smiled at him affectionately none the less.

"The clinic is good," Karev answered gruffly. "I checked on everything before I left. Thanks for your help."

"No problem." She sipped her coffee as she felt Jackson's arm tighten around her waist while his other hand settled on her thigh. Jackson never had a problem showing his feelings for her in front of people but something about the way that he was holding her made her feel like something was off. "Liam, was Jackson's room okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "it was great. He's just as messy as I remember. Great new sneakers though."

"April got them for me, and I'm not that bad," Jackson argued.

"Actually," April began slowly. "You are pretty messy. You're going to have to clean up if you're going to be staying in my room."

He playfully squeezed her waist and buried his nose in her hair. "I thought I'd be paying my room and board in sexual favours," he whispered.

"Looks like you're not fully trained yet Avery," Karev joked.

April glared at Alex as she got to her feet. Living with three men might be a little too much for her. She kissed Jackson on the cheek before she left the kitchen and returned to her bedroom to do wedding things.

"Are you whipped Avery?" Brooks inquired after the red-head disappeared.

"Completely," Karev answered for him.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I'm not whipped. I'm in a serious relationship and when you're in a serious relationship, you do things out of respect and courtesy for the other person."

"Yeah, whatever," Karev replied. "Kepner had you whipped long before you even started dating. You could never say no to her."

Jackson was willing to acknowledge that Karev had a point. April had always had a certain power over him. "So what? I'm whipped and I love it."

There were a few more comments made at Jackson's expense before Karev departed to take a shower. Jackson brought his empty dishes to the sink and turned around to face his friend. "What did you mean earlier? Before Karev came home?" The curiosity was eating away at him.

Brooks laughed dismissively. "I just can't believe you're getting married, Avery."

Jackson smiled a little in relief. He had jumped to conclusions that had caused him panic. "Do you wanna hang out this afternoon? Play ball or something?"

"Do you have any tennis courts around here?"

"We do!"

"Sick! Do you have a spare racket?" Brooks asked excitedly.

Jackson nodded just as April poked her head around the corner. "Jackson, don't forget that we have a meeting with the caterer at three!"

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot!"

She saw that his face had fallen quite a bit so she asked, "Did you two just make plans?"

"We were gonna go play tennis," Brooks answered.

April walked up to Jackson with a smile. "Well, that's fine, go, have fun!"

He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest. "Are you sure? I don't want you going alone."

"I'm sure I can convince Alex to come with me. He'll get to try tonnes of food for free," she laughed.

"Are you sure?" Jackson asked again.

"Yeah," she replied confidently. She stood on the tips of her toes and gave him a soft kiss. "Have fun and I'll take care of the caterer."

* * *

Jackson and Brooks finished their third set of tennis and sat on the sidelines for an extended water break. On the next court over, two young women were playing and every now and then, they would take the time to glance over.

"See," Brooks began as he gestured towards the two attractive women. "This is why I can't believe you're getting married. You're Jackson Avery; you can have any woman you want. You could bring both of them home if you wanted to. You've been with more women than I have and now you're just…getting married."

Jackson chuckled as he poured water over his head. "I think that stat has changed over the past five years."

"How many women have you been with since you started residency?"

Jackson thought about it for a moment. His love life had been much quieter since moving to Seattle. He had been in two serious relationships and he had only casually dated a few women. He had only had two one night stands. "Seven," he finally answered.

"Holy shit! What happened to you?" Brooks asked incredulously.

Jackson laughed, "I was focused on the medicine. Besides, I love being monogamous, if you're about to give me the 'I can't believe you're only gonna sleep with one woman for the rest of your life' speech, you should know that."

"Well, yeah," Brooks shrugged. "I was about to give you that speech. Come on Avery, we aren't meant to be monogamous."

Jackson rolled his eyes. He had heard Brooks' views on fidelity and commitment many times. "I don't even think about other women anymore," he said honestly. He had sewn his wild oats. He was incredibly ready to settle down and be with just one person for the rest of his life. "I am more than happy with my sex life."

Brooks took a long sip from his water bottle. "So tell me all the dirty details." He was more than a little curious about Jackson's little red-headed fiancé.

Jackson shifted uncomfortably and twirled his tennis racket in his hand. He and Brooks had always traded stories about their conquests but he just couldn't bring himself to talk about April like that, like some sort of object. "Man, its private."

"What?" Brooks guffawed. "You have really gone soft for this chick."

"She's special," he said quickly. "Sex is very private and very personal to her so I'm not going to talk about her like I did girls in college. But it's amazing," he added quietly.

"Do you know what I think? I think that you're mesmerized by virgin pussy."

Jackson grimaced at his friend's choice of words and hopped to his feet. "Jesus Brooks, let's just play tennis."

* * *

April and Alex sat at the kitchen table and marvelled at all of the small cakes spread out before them. They had returned from the appointment with the caterer to find a truck from the bakery waiting to drop off wedding cake samples.

Alex moaned in approval and pointed his fork towards the cake in front of him. "This one is good. Try it."

April reached across the table and grabbed a bit with her fork. She tasted the cake and nodded. "That one is good." She made a note on the pad of paper in front of her. She was trying to keep an organized system of which cakes that she liked.

"So, not that I'm complaining or anything, but why isn't Avery doing this with you?" Alex asked as he scoped out which cake he was going to try next.

"He's playing tennis with Liam," she replied. "They haven't seen each other in a long time so I want them to spend some time together. They were really close growing up."

"So it doesn't bother him that your caterer thinks that I'm the groom?" He asked with a smirk.

She laughed as she took a bite of the red velvet cake. "Because it's so easy to mistake us as a happy couple," she said sarcastically. She got up out of her chair and moved towards the refrigerator for a glass of milk. "Do you want some milk?"

"Please, honey," he played along.

April screwed up her face in disgust at the endearment falling from Alex's mouth. "Don't do that ever again," she said as she placed a glass of milk in front of him. "It's scary. I'm actually much more comfortable with the repulsive side of you."

"You got it Kepner," he responded as he smacked her hard on the behind.

"Ow!" She yelped while Alex simply snickered.

"Hey Karev, paws off my fiancée," Jackson said as he walked into the kitchen with Brooks behind him. He wrapped an arm around April's waist and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips.

"According to the caterer and wedding cake people, she's my fiancée," Alex stated just to piss Jackson off.

April ignored him and commented, "I didn't even hear you guys come in. How was your afternoon?" Her eyes subtly roamed over Jackson's body and all of the glistening, bulging muscles. She loved whenever he returned from working out; it did something very primal to her.

"It was good. How was the caterer?" He asked in return.

"Great! I brought back the options for our menu. They're in my bedroom and now we have wedding cake samples to choose from!" She told him excitedly.

Jackson peered at all of the little cakes on the kitchen table as one of his hands slipped down to cup April's ass. "Looks good." All of the cakes did look delicious but he was currently much more interested in something else. They had seen each other hours ago but he had still missed her. "Let's go look at those menu options," he said suggestively as he caressed her flesh. "Right now."

April felt her face and neck flush. His intentions were abundantly clear. "Um, yeah, okay. Alex, write down what cakes you like."

She barely managed to finish her sentence before Jackson was pulling her out of the kitchen and towards her bedroom.

"Are they always like that?" Brooks asked curiously once they heard a door slam shut.

"Yeah, pretty much," Alex answered honestly. "Avery gets a little possessive."

Brooks nodded as he took a seat at the kitchen table. He had never known Avery to be jealous, possessive, or territorial, especially not over a woman. "Interesting," he murmured.

"They screw a lot. I just pretend that they don't."

"Did you and April date or something?" Brooks probed nosily.

Alex laughed, "No, we didn't date. We made out once. It was a mistake and Avery kicked my ass for it."

Brooks had never known Avery to get into a fight over a girl either. Maybe there was a little more to their relationship than he thought. However, he still had a feeling that April didn't know Avery as well as she thought and that Avery might just be more in love with the idea of having the perfect marriage and family than he was with his fiancé.

* * *

Brooks walked into the kitchen for a late night glass of water and found April putting away the wedding cake samples. "They're all good," he smiled. He and Avery had spent the evening trying each cake.

"Yeah, they are," she chuckled.

"So, um," he began a little awkwardly as he scratched his chest. "How long have you and Jackson been together?"

"Well, we've only been dating since April." His eyebrows rose in surprise like she had expected. "Yeah, I know, it seems fast but we've known each other for so long that it doesn't feel fast. We've been friends since we were interns."

He nodded in understanding. Avery had told him that April was his best friend. "I get it; it's just that I've never known him to be such close friends with a woman."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he laughed, "he was never really interested in friendship."

"Oh," she replied lamely as she placed some of the leftover cake in their refrigerator. Jackson had plenty of female friends…well, just Meredith and Cristina really. "So, in college, he dated a lot?" She asked inquisitively.

Brooks nodded with a smirk. "You could say that, yeah." He and Avery had turned dating women into a giant contest. They had always competed to see who could sleep with more women, who could bring home the more attractive woman, or in some cases, women. Everything had been a game to them, a game that they had gotten really good at. They had been young, smart, charming, rich, and attractive. They had partied like celebrities and women had been drawn to them. They had never gotten attached or serious. It seemed as if Avery hadn't shared any of his slightly checkered romantic past with his wholesome fiancé. "He hasn't given you the roster, yet?"

"The roster?" She repeated in confusion.

"Ya know, all of the women that he's slept with," he explained bluntly.

April's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open a little. They definitely had not had that conversation. She wasn't sure if she wanted to. She knew about Lexie and she knew about Mara Keaton. That knowledge was enough for her, especially since Jackson was the only name on her "roster".

"You're getting married," Brooks continued, "you have to exchange rosters."

"I-I don't think I really wanna know," she stammered.

"To each their own," he responded before sipping his water.

April finished putting away all of the little wedding cakes and then she bid Liam goodnight before returning to her bedroom. She hung her robe on the back of her door like she always did and Jackson smiled at her from the bed.

"What took you so long?" He asked playfully.

"I was just talking to Liam," she answered.

"Oh no," he laughed. "What did he say?"

"Nothing much," she answered dismissively. She slipped into bed and he immediately started kissing her neck. "Jackson," she giggled. "What has gotten into you lately?"

"What do you mean?" He questioned as his hands tried to pull her tank top off.

"Its like you can't keep your hands off me."

"I know," he grinned, "and this isn't exactly a new development."

She pulled him away from her collarbone and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm just a little tired, okay? And full from all the cake," she added with a laugh.

He laughed along with her. "That's okay." She lay down on her side and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

April smiled to herself. "I love you too, Jackson."

But she now felt uneasy about their physical intimacy in a way that she never had before. She felt like she was being compared to every other name on Jackson Avery's "roster".

* * *

**A/N: So 9x04 was just great! Japril was hot, cute, and funny.**

**Thanks so much for all the feedback about the idea of an AU story. I just started writing it! :)**

**Brooks is gonna stir a few things up! Please leave a review! :)**


	11. Nice To See You Again

**A/N: I was supposed to update yesterday and I didn't, it was a very busy day, so I apologize. I will still update again on Friday :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Nice To See You Again**

On the morning of July 1st, all of the fellows were practically buzzing around Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. It was their first day as attendings and their excitement was palpable. They had a new locker room, new lounges, and new scrubs.

Shepherd and Robbins were still in the rehabilitation phase but their recoveries were on track. They would both be able to return to administrative duties soon. It looked as if Robbins would be cleared for surgery first but because of her leg, she wouldn't be able to stand in the OR for long periods of time, or go around the peds wing on her roller shoes. On a brighter note, Mark Sloan was officially back to work, cleared for surgery, and ready to invigorate the plastics posse with Jackson. Cristina was cleared for surgery as well and was dying to get her first cardio case with the new department head, Elizabeth Avery. Meredith was comfortable alongside Bailey and Webber. Alex was the least happy of the bunch. He had been grumpy since he got up this morning because he was dreading reporting to Stark.

April's first task as an attending was to show the new interns around with Chief Hunt. They walked into an empty OR 2 and all of the newbies looked around curiously. It was easy to tell that they were nervous and full of trepidation, but also hopeful and excited.

The Chief waited a moment before he began to speak. He had gotten a few tips from Webber on how to welcome the new class. "The years that you spend as a resident will be the best and worst of your life. The people around you are your competition and your support system. You have chosen surgery as your speciality and surgery is war. The statistics say that eight of you will switch to an easier speciality, five of you will crack under the pressure, and two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line, and how well you play is entirely up to you. Welcome to Seattle Grace Mercy West." He smiled warmly before he assigned the interns to their residents. "You will meet your attendings as you take turns on their service. This is Dr. Kepner," he gestured towards April and she smiled and waved. "She will be in charge of the ER on most of the days that you are in there and she will frequently be on-call. As you will learn, the ER can be hectic so do what she tells you exactly when she tells you to do it."

After a few more words, the new interns left to change into their scrubs and find their residents. Chief Hunt turned to say something to April but their pagers went off at exactly the same time.

Hunt let out a little sigh. "Looks like we're starting the year off with a bang."

* * *

Their incoming trauma turned out to be an unorthodox car accident. A car had lost control and flown into a restaurant in downtown Seattle. Hunt was taking a team out into the field so April was in charge of the ER and managing the incoming ambulances.

She was in the middle of pulling on her trauma gown when she felt a presence behind her. "Let me get this for you, Dr. Kepner," a warm voice whispered.

"Thank you Dr. Avery," she replied playfully.

He leaned closer to her ear as he tied the back of her gown. "Have I told you how sexy you look in navy blue scrubs?"

"Yes," she laughed. "Twice already this morning." And he just looked perfect in everything that he wore, and when he wore nothing. But she didn't have the time or the desire to flirt with him. This was the first trauma of her career as an attending and she was nervous. "I need you on stand by for burns and lacerations, okay?"

"You got it," he grinned. He loved it when she took charge. It was a turn on that his future wife was a hot, hardcore trauma surgeon.

* * *

They ended up seeing twelve patients come into the ER. There were still three patients in the OR but so far they had zero casualties. Cristina and the female Avery were in OR 2, Meredith and Bailey were still with a patient and so was Liam Brooks and the interim Head of Neuro. Chief Hunt was back from the field so April was taking a much deserved break as she sat in the OR 2 gallery.

"Busy first day back, huh?" Jackson commented as he took the seat beside her.

She gave him a wry smile. "Never a dull moment."

Jackson could tell that she was already exhausted so he grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She hadn't been herself lately and he wasn't sure what was going on. He had hoped that getting back to work would restore some normalcy but she seemed even more stressed out then before. "How are they doing?" He asked as he looked down at Yang and his sister operating.

"They're getting ready to close up," April answered.

He stood up and used the grasp that he had on her hand to lead her out of the gallery. "Are you okay?" He asked softly once they found an empty corridor.

When he really thought about it, a million things could be bothering her. It could be first day fellowship jitters. It could be the exhaustion from the incoming trauma that she had just dealt with. It could be living with three men. It could be Stark being back, he wasn't sure if she had seen him yet. It could be the wedding. It could be him. She was happy and smiling and energetic, but they hadn't had sex in four consecutive nights, which didn't really bother him, it was just out of the ordinary for them. They barely touched. He had been spending a fair amount of time with Brooks and as a result, she had been spending a lot of time with Alex.

She was planning their wedding with Alex Karev. God, he was such an oblivious idiot.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she assured. "Just a hectic day so far." She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "But I'm fine."

Usually, when she said that she was fine, it meant that she was not fine. "I've been kinda neglectful lately and I'm sorry," he murmured.

"What? No, you haven't," she protested. "I want you to spend time with your best friend."

He grinned as he swung their joined hands back and forth. "You're my best friend."

"You know what I mean," she smiled.

He was about to tell her that he wanted to spend the evening with her, alone. Maybe they could go out to dinner or go dancing. But Karev ran up to them before he had a chance to say anything.

"I need you," he told April frantically.

"Why? What's going on?" She asked quickly in concern. "Do you need a consult?"

He shook his head. "No. I need you to talk to Stark. It's the first day and I already want to kill him."

"Oh, no, no, no, no," she repeated furiously. "No, definitely not. I am _not_ talking to him. No!" Over the past couple of days, she had tried to drill into Alex's head that she did not have a good relationship with Stark. They had ended on a very bad note. But he was just not listening to her.

Jackson took a protective step towards April and stared at the other man. "If she doesn't want to talk to him than she doesn't have to talk to him," he stated firmly.

Karev narrowed his eyes and pointed his index finger at her. "Kepner, I helped you pick out flowers!"

She grimaced, "Oh shoot!" She groaned before agreeing, "Fine, I'll talk to him for you but there's no guarantee that it's going to help. This is big! You owe me big time!"

"I will never tease you ever again."

April looked at him in disbelief before she started to walk down the hall alongside of him. "That's too big of a promise for you to keep."

Jackson watched them walk down the hallway bickering. April didn't say goodbye and she didn't look back at him either. She was definitely not fine.

* * *

April swallowed nervously as she spotted Robert Stark at the peds wing's main nurses' station. Their last encounter before he had left Seattle had been full of insults and bitterness. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to him because it had taken her a long time to realize that she had hurt him. She hadn't tried to but she had. But he certainly could have handled her "we're just friends" declaration a lot more maturely.

At least she had an excuse to walk up to the nurses' station; she had a patient to check on from earlier this morning.

She should not be agonizing over this, she told herself. She was a very different person now. She was engaged, and she wasn't a resident anymore, he had absolutely no right to treat her like crap at work.

She was happier and more confident than she had been when he had last lived in Seattle. But she didn't feel happy or confident at the moment. Despite what she had told Jackson, she was not fine. She was a little uncomfortable around him for the first time in a very long time. All that she could think about was his "roster" and passing Mara Keaton in the hallway this morning had not helped. The woman was tall and gorgeous, and British.

She shook those thoughts out of her head and straightened her back. She strutted to the nurses' station to grab her patient's chart. She spun around to see that Robert had raised his head to look at her. "Hi Dr. Stark, welcome back," she smiled.

He seemed slightly taken aback by her presence and her chipper attitude. "Um, hello Dr. Kepner." She was even more beautiful than he remembered…if that was even possible.

"How is your case load?" She asked conversationally as she flipped through the chart in her hands.

"Heavy," he answered simply.

"Well, you're lucky to have such a great peds fellow." She smiled as she hoped that he wasn't able to see right through her.

He scoffed and returned to charting. "You mean Karev?" Alex Karev was not what he looked for in a peds fellow. He still didn't like the guy and if he was completely honest with himself, he had hoped that she would have chosen a career in peds. The speciality really suited her.

"Yeah, Alex is…" She paused and he looked at her curiously. "Well, you know that he can be difficult, but he really cares and he's a very good surgeon. You should give him a chance."

Stark nodded and contemplated her words. Karev was talented but he was also an arrogant jackass. "I'll think about it," he muttered.

He looked back down at his chart and April took a moment to smile to herself. It may have actually worked. "It was nice to see you again, Dr. Stark," she said before she walked away.

And her statement wasn't completely disingenuous.

* * *

Jackson released his frustrations on a malfunctioning vending machine. He repeatedly kicked it as it withheld the small package of chips that he had paid for. "Piece of shit," he muttered angrily. Yang wouldn't stop praising his perfect sister, he was done surgery for the day, and April was in peds with Karev and Stark. His first day as a fellow was really sucking.

Brooks approached him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Take it easy on the vending machine."

Jackson stood up straight with his hands on his hips and decided to give up on his chips. "Hey man, how was your surgery?"

"Flawless," Brooks grinned cockily. "So far, I love this hospital. You should take me to that bar tonight. What's it called again?"

"We just call it Joe's," Jackson answered grumpily.

"Yeah, we should go there! Celebrate the first day as attendings. Whatta ya say?"

"I dunno," he replied unsurely. "I was thinking about spending some time alone with April."

Brooks rolled his eyes but before he could insult his oldest friend, he spotted a familiar face over Jackson's shoulder. "Dr. Keaton!" He called with a grin. "We find ourselves in the same hospital once again!"

"How lucky for me," she quipped sarcastically as she approached the two men.

"Dr. Keaton," Jackson nodded in greeting. "Nice to see you again." He hadn't considered the fact that Brooks would already know Mara Keaton. It had slipped his mind that they had both done their residency at Mass Gen.

"You too Dr. Avery," she smiled.

Jackson didn't pay attention to the banter exchanged in front of him but he could see Brooks eyeing him suspiciously. Just when Jackson thought that the moment couldn't get anymore awkward for him, his sister joined the little Mass Gen/the Brigham reunion. This day really wasn't what he had hoped it would be.

* * *

Jackson did indeed end up spending his night at Joe's. It was not where he wanted to be but April had supported Brooks' suggestion. So he sat at a table with Brooks, Karev, April, and Yang, and sipped his beer as they discussed their first day as attendings. Grey had stopped in for one drink before going home to be with Derek and Zola.

"Ya know," Yang began as she placed a hand on Jackson's shoulder. "Your sister is everything that I expected from an Avery."

Jackson forced a smile. "That's great. That's really great. I'm happy for you Yang."

"I mean she's brilliant, she's decisive, she's confident," she continued. "Where did you come from?"

April placed a comforting hand on Jackson's thigh and frowned at the cardio surgeon.

"She was a hell of a resident," Brooks reminisced from his time as an intern. "She was scary, actually she was terrifying," he laughed. "She was probably a lot like you, Karev?"

Karev chuckled, "The best attendings are the scariest residents."

"I disagree," April stated.

"I think that you're scary in your own way, Kepner."

April looked at the other female at the table in confusion. "Thanks, Cristina…I think." She got up to get another drink and Jackson followed her to the bar. "Do you want another beer?"

He shook his head. "No thanks. You know, I had kinda hoped that we could spend tonight alone, maybe go somewhere nice."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" She asked with a puzzled facial expression.

He shrugged, "After we talked outside the gallery, I didn't see you all day. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," she assured him as she rubbed his bicep. "It was just a really busy, tiring first day." She wasn't sure how long she could lie to him but she knew that she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. She leaned forward and placed a kiss beneath his ear. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled. He could tell that her mind was going a mile a minute and he just wished that she would tell him what she was thinking about. He knew that it wasn't all work related. But he had to trust her and hope that she would tell him when she was ready.

* * *

**A/N: Tell me what you think of their first day back to work. And Stark isn't in this story to cause as much of a stir as you might think. He's mainly a plot device to frustrate Alex and increase April's self-awareness. Lol.**

**Please review! :)**


	12. Not What I Expected

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Not What I Expected**

April walked through the halls of the hospital in search on an empty on-call room. She was on-call for the night and had decided to take the time to rest in case a big surgical emergency came into the pit and the residents decided that they couldn't handle it.

It had only been a week and a half but she loved her fellowship so far. She loved trauma. It was exciting and it gave her a rush of adrenaline that she often desperately needed to relieve her pent-up anxiety. She got to dabble in a little bit of everything and even performed some scheduled general procedures. It was the perfect speciality for her.

However, she was a little worried about this year's group of interns. They were reckless, and rash, and very gossipy. Except for one or two, they didn't respect her in the pit or the OR, and it really bothered her. She was an attending, she had gotten fellowship offers from all over the country, and she was an excellent surgeon. She deserved a little respect from interns. It also bothered her that a few of them spent nearly all of their time fawning over Jackson.

She finally found an unlocked room and stepped inside. It was unlocked but it was not unoccupied. Someone was lying on the bed. "Oh, I'm sorry."

A familiar voice stopped her from leaving. "No, that's okay. Please come in."

"Jackson," she said in surprise as she closed the door behind her. "I thought that you were gone home for the night."

He sat up and patted the spot next to him. "I decided to stay and run the burn center tonight. Just wanted to lie down for a minute," he explained. "I kicked a resident outta here," he told her with a grin.

She laughed and sat down next to him, leaning her back against the wall. "Such an abuse of power," she joked. She pulled the elastic off of her wrist and started to pull her hair up into a ponytail. Her hair was getting longer, and harder to manage. "I need to get my hair cut," she said more to herself than him.

"Don't. I love your hair long."

He really did love her hair, it was silky yet thick. He loved tangling his hands in her hair when they made love, but it seemed like it had been forever since they had even made out. He knew that trauma hours were long, unpredictable, and hectic. They were probably the worst of any speciality, and she was tired a lot from working and being on her feet all day. He was trying to be understanding and patient. He gave her massages to try to get her to relax a little more. He drew her baths and they talked and cuddled, continued to make wedding plans, but she was utterly disinterested in having sex. He was concerned and confused. Worst case scenarios were starting to run through his head.

She smiled at him and ran a hand along his calf. "Thank you, maybe I'll wait to cut it until after the wedding."

He had been saying a lot of things like that lately, telling her that she looked nice, and that he liked her hair a certain way, and noticing her new clothes that she had bought for work. Just little compliments here and there, and he had gotten into the habit of doing very sweet things when she least expected it. It was nice, she was just a little puzzled by his intense attentiveness.

She had a feeling that it had something to do with her self-imposed sex embargo.

"Jackson," she began softly. "I need to talk to you about something."

He scooted closer to her on the bed and placed a hand on her knee. "What is it?"

She chewed on her bottom lip before she asked, "Have you been with a lot of women?"

He was startled by her inquiry. "Umm…?"

"Like how many? What's your number?"

"Do you really wanna talk about this?" He asked uncomfortably. "Is this why you've been so distant lately?" They had tiptoed around the conversation before but he wondered why this was suddenly occurring now and he had an idea but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

She nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, it is," she told him honestly. "I tried not to think about it but I can't. You know how I stress out over the littlest things, and I just couldn't stop thinking about all these other women that you must be comparing me to."

"Hey," he called quickly. "I'm not comparing you to anyone." He could tell that she didn't believe him so he placed a hand on the back of her neck and began to gently circle a tense muscle with his thumb. "There are a lot of things that I did before I started my residency that I'm not proud of and a lot of them involve women. I didn't always treat women with the respect they deserve." He regretted ninety percent of his college and med school hook-ups. He had been a bit of a dick but he had learned his lesson before moving to Seattle and he had always been careful. He had learned that he couldn't continue to treat women the way he did and that he couldn't rely on his looks so much. If psych had taught him anything it was that he had sought approval and sexual gratification from women because he had never been able to please his parents. "Honestly, I've been with a _lot _of women but I've never felt the way that I do with you." He leaned forward and kissed her neck. "Seriously."

"Yeah?" She asked as she tilted her neck to allow him better access.

"Yeah," he assured her. "Not even close. It's like I can't get enough of you. You make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Sex is a million times better when it's with the love of your life."

She smiled to herself as he nibbled below her jaw. "You are so cheesy."

He laughed, "It's the truth." He grabbed her hand and placed it over his groin. Scrub pants really didn't hide anything. "And I really want you…all the time."

She quickly turned her head and surprised him with a hungry kiss. He fell back onto the cot and whipped off his scrub top before removing hers. He pulled the elastic out of her hair and tangled his hands in her long, thick auburn tresses. Yeah, he really didn't want her to cut her hair.

She straddled his lap and he groaned at the contact. He dragged his lips away from the edge of her bra so that he could look at her. He was so worked up that it probably wasn't going to be any good for her. He already felt like he was on the edge. He figured that he would be able to hold out a little longer if she wasn't on top of him.

She squealed in surprise when he flipped her onto her back. Her squeal quickly turned into boisterous laughter when their sneaker clad feet awkwardly intertwined. "I guess we're a little out of practice," she joked.

Jackson grinned as he held himself above her. "That's okay, we can work on that."

He leaned down to claim her mouth and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders to bring his body closer to hers.

When her pager went off, he felt like he could burst into tears.

"Oh crap!" She exclaimed as she hurriedly clambered off of the bed.

"Our residents are useless," Jackson muttered in frustration. He couldn't even remember the last time that he was this horny.

April pulled back on her scrub top and fixed her hair. "Sorry, sweetie." She gave him a quick kiss before she ran out of the room.

He flopped down onto his back and took a deep breath.

* * *

Jackson headed home after his night shift and found Brooks in the kitchen. He assumed that Karev was still sleeping. "Morning," he mumbled sleepily.

"Hey man, how was your shift?"

"It was good."

"Want some coffee?" Brooks asked as he held up the coffee pot.

Jackson shook his head as he slumped into a kitchen chair. "No, I'm gonna go to bed in a minute."

"So I have a question," Brooks began mischievously.

"Go ahead," Jackson prompted.

Brooks joined him at the table with his cup of coffee. "You banged Mara Keaton, didn't you? I've been watching you two interact since we started work and you two definitely screwed."

"Yeah, we did, once," Jackson admitted nonchalantly.

"I knew it!" Brooks laughed as he looked at his friend with something akin to admiration. "Man, I tried to get in her pants for three years."

"I wonder why she never went for it," Jackson pondered sarcastically.

"Whatever," he chuckled. "The group of interns isn't too bad to look at. When Karev and I were having lunch yesterday, we overheard a group of them yammering on about how dreamy, and talented, and sweet Dr. Avery is."

Jackson couldn't help but laugh to himself. He had noticed some rather star struck interns and a few of them had already expressed an interest in plastics. He was used to the attention so it didn't really bother him. He just ignored it. His grandfather had always called women like that surgery groupies.

"They're totally infatuated with you," Brooks continued. "They want us to meet them at this nightclub tomorrow night. You should come."

"Preying on interns, not a good idea," he advised. "You could get in trouble with the Chief for that kinda thing."

"Don't worry," Brooks responded confidently. "I'll handle it if the situation arises. But seriously, come with us."

Jackson shook his head. "I'm taken."

Brooks wanted to say that he was engaged, not married, but he didn't think that Avery would take that well. Before he could offer any kind of retort, they both heard a door open and close and minutes later, April appeared in the kitchen.

"I didn't know that you were home," Jackson said happily. She had obviously showered and she was wearing a different set of clothes than the ones she had on yesterday.

"I just came home to grab a quick shower. I gotta get back and check on my patient."

She spoke at a rapid pace and it was obvious that she was in a hurry. "What was the trauma?" He asked curiously.

She explained to Jackson that her untimely page had turned out to be a four-year-old boy who had taken a tumble down a flight of stairs while he was half-asleep. His parents had been in hysterics. "I wanna be there when he wakes up," she said as she poured coffee into a travel mug.

"A peds case," Jackson murmured. "Are you working with Karev?"

"Nope, Stark," she answered casually. She grabbed a banana and gave him a goodbye kiss. "See you at the hospital!"

Brooks waited until he heard the front door slam shut before he got nosy. "Stark is the interim Head of Peds, right?" Jackson nodded. "Then why do you look pissed?"

"They had a thing," he explained weakly.

Brooks laughed into his coffee mug. "She had a thing with that guy?"

Stark was old and short, and not exactly conventionally attractive. Some of the doctors who had known him from his previous tenor at Seattle Grace Mercy West called him the Grinch. Next to Jackson Avery, the man looked like an ugly dinosaur. It was just another thing that led him to believe that Avery and his fiancé were in two completely different leagues.

Jackson tiredly rubbed his eyes before a thought occurred to him. "Last night, April asked me how many women I've been with, seemed pretty random."

Brooks arched an eyebrow. "Are you saying that I said something to her?"

"Well, did you?"

"I might have mentioned to her that I'm surprised that you two haven't had that talk. It's an important one if you're getting married. You should tell her the number."

Jackson scratched his head and muttered, "You're probably right." He did want to be completely honest with April but it still wasn't a conversation that he was looking forward to.

* * *

April updated Logan's chart as he played with his dinosaur teddy bear. She hadn't been able to resist checking in on him before she left the hospital for the night. He was still her patient but hopefully he wouldn't need anymore surgeries. A resident could easily be doing this work for her but she just wanted to keep an eye on him. He was such an adorable kid that she couldn't keep the smile off of her face.

"April," he began softly. "Am I gonna be all better soon?"

"If you go to sleep at bedtime and eat all your vegetables!" She closed his chart and moved to sit next to him on the hospital bed. "You should be able to go home in a couple of days if everything goes well," she said a little more seriously. He had a few broken bones and they were monitoring internal bleeding. They had repaired abdominal injuries in surgery but his spleen had started to bleed this morning and they hoped that it would stop on its own.

"Okay," he nodded. He reached up and gently tugged on one of her curls. "You have pretty hair," he murmured in awe.

"Thank you," she giggled. "And you are very handsome." His cheeks flushed and it made her smile even wider. His parents returned to the room and she politely smiled at them as she got to her feet. "I'll be back again tomorrow morning."

"Thank you Dr. Kepner," Logan's father, Bryan, said gratefully.

"No problem." She grabbed his chart and moved towards the door. "Goodnight Logan."

"Goodnight April!" He called back.

She left his room and found Jackson leaning on the nurses' station outside. He had been hanging around peds all day. He had brought her lunch and coffee, and stopped by to chat. She felt like he was keeping an eye on her. She knew that it had to do with Stark and she didn't like it at all. She could take care of herself and she wasn't interested in Robert. What he was doing wasn't fair because she wasn't jealous or bitter about Mara Keaton. She smiled at her and they exchanged small talk. She also was no longer freaking out over his hoard of women and the fact that he had not given her a concrete number.

So, she was not enjoying his alpha male display. He was metaphorically peeing on her.

"Can you stop hanging around peds like a stalker? Someone is gonna have you arrested," she told him in annoyance.

He frowned. "I just came to see if you're ready to go home."

She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Don't do that! Don't act all innocent, you've been hovering all day."

Jackson shifted his feet and made use of his most charming smile. He couldn't argue with her, he had been hovering. He had wanted to see how Stark acted around her and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or worried by the fact that the older man was perfectly polite and professional. Aside from strict medical talk, Stark had made a comment about how she should have specialized in peds and he had actually congratulated her on her engagement.

He had come to watch Stark but he had stayed to see April interact with the little boy she was treating.

He grabbed the lapel of her lab coat and pulled her forward. "I wanna make a baby," he whispered.

Her whole body froze. "That's not what I expected you to say."

He laughed, "You thought I was gonna say something about Stark?" She nodded timidly. "I'm not jealous or anything." He certainly didn't feel threatened by Stark. "I just like seeing you in peds," he confessed.

"And you want to…" She swallowed. "Try to get pregnant? Now?" She asked in a very high-pitched voice. They were getting married in two months and she was still on the birth control pill. His request was a little unrealistic. She looked around uncomfortably and started to push him backwards. "We should really wait to talk about this until we get home."

* * *

April and Jackson walked into their apartment hand in hand. April felt a sense of relief when Liam and Alex called for Jackson from the living room.

"Hey Avery! The game is on! Want a beer?"

Jackson opened his mouth to turn down their offer but April gently started to push him towards the living room. "Go, watch the game. I have to make a few calls anyway, wedding stuff."

"But what about…? We were gonna talk about…ya know."

She smiled and pulled him down for a kiss. "We will, I promise." She kissed him again before she headed to her bedroom.

Jackson sat down on the couch to watch the game but he had never wished for a baseball game to end so quickly. When there was one out left in the ninth inning, he finished his beer and rushed into April's bedroom without a word to his two male companions.

"Okay," April began once he stepped into her room and closed the door. "I want to have kids, I do, and you know that, just not right now." She got up off of the bed and walked towards him. "I mean, we just started our fellowships and we're getting married in September, and I can't be pregnant at the wedding, my Dad might kill you. Besides I'm still taking birth control."

Jackson grinned as he realized that she had spent her entire evening preparing that answer. "You are so cute when you ramble." He slipped his arms around her waist and tilted his head down to kiss her.

She kissed him back but spoke against his lips. "You're not upset?"

"No, of course not. Seeing you in peds makes me really…" he trailed off and emitted a small growl, "and I just got carried away. It makes sense for us to wait until we get married and settle into marriage and being attendings." He knew that he had surprised her with his eagerness to reproduce and that now was not a good time to start a family. "Besides," he smirked, "we need to practice first."

This conversation had gone a lot smoother than she had expected.

"Yes," she giggled. "We do need to practice first."

She pulled him back towards the bed as he began to untie her robe. He felt silk beneath his fingertips so he opened his eyes to see what she was wearing. He was pleasantly surprised to see a skimpy, dark blue nightgown.

"You bought lingerie," he grinned boyishly.

"I figured I'd try it," she replied shyly. "And the lady at the store told me that this one is really comfortable to sleep in."

Jackson smiled predatorily as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. "I don't think it's really meant for sleeping."

She laughed as she fell back on the bed and he climbed on top of her. They kissed as she worked on opening his belt. He moaned at the feeling of her tongue in his mouth as he ran his hand along her bare thigh.

He dropped his mouth down to her chest and groaned. "I approve," he said against her pale, lightly freckled skin. "You should buy more."

She smiled to herself as she ran her hands along his shoulders and started to push down his pants with her feet. "I did buy more. I'm saving it for the honeymoon."

He growled and pushed his hips into hers. "You're an evil woman."

She giggled and squirmed as he tickled her inner thighs. "Don't do that," she squealed. She grabbed his face and kissed him slowly and seductively. "Make love to me Jackson." She couldn't believe that she had felt uncomfortable with him, even for a moment. He was the one person that she had ever met that made her feel really special.

He kissed her back hungrily while shedding his boxers. He _needed_ to make love to her. It was driving him crazy not to. The anticipation was eating him alive. "I love you so much," he whispered. He pushed her nightgown up over her hips and positioned himself to enter her. A knock sounded on her door and he gripped the sheets beneath him in frustration. "If that's Karev, I'm killing him this time."

April laughed but she was also feeling rather frustrated. She watched in amusement as Jackson grabbed a pillow to cover himself up before he headed to the door.

He angrily yanked open the door and was surprised to find Brooks instead of Karev. "What do you want? I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"Oh," Brooks laughed. "Sorry man. I forgot what I was gonna ask you anyway. I guess she took the number well then if you're getting busy."

"Just leave," he stated impatiently.

"Okay, I'm going!"

Jackson closed and looked the bedroom door before he spun around. He frowned when he saw that April was now sitting up and she had straightened her nightgown. "Where were we?" He asked excitedly.

"What did he just mean by 'she took the number well'?" She questioned in a rather stern voice. "Were you actually going to tell me?"

He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly but nothing came out. He slowly sat next to her on the bed and continued to use the pillow to shield his crotch. "Only if you wanna know," he finally managed to say.

April ran her hands through her hair and thought about it for a minute. Maybe it would be better to just get this out in the open once and for all so that she didn't have to wonder anymore. "Okay, how about I just guess and you say higher or lower?" He reluctantly nodded so she continued. "Well, I read somewhere that the average number of sexual partners for an American is seven, so seven?"

"Higher."

"Ten?"

"Higher."

"Twenty?"

He gulped, "Higher."

"Fifty?" She threw out jokingly. She watched as a guilty look spread across his face and her mouth dropped open in horror. "Oh my God! More than fifty!" She grabbed her robe and hastily pulled it back on. She felt absolutely ridiculous wearing lingerie and she had never felt so inexperienced. While she had spent years studying and going to church, pretty much making a career out of being a virgin, he had been having sex with half the women in Boston!

She passed him his boxers and he sighed. "April, stop pacing."

"Where did you find the time?" She asked incredulously as she leaned back against her dresser.

"I didn't finish at the top of my class like you did," he offered lamely.

He beckoned her forward but she shook her head. "I don't think so; I don't know where those hands have been."

"April, come on," he laughed lightly. "I already told you that I was a completely different person when I lived in Boston, a lesser person, and no woman that I've ever been with even comes close to you."

She looked down at her feet and said, "I didn't expect it to be so many."

"Yeah, I'm not proud of it," he admitted bashfully. He had been at one point in his life, but not anymore. "Can you at least come here, please?" She shook her head again and he sighed. "This doesn't change anything."

She raised her head and looked at him sadly. "Yes, it does."

It definitely changed things for her. It changed the way that she thought of him and it changed how special he made her feel.

* * *

**A/N: Keep in mind that Jackson has been having sex for like 15 years, and just look at him... lol.**

**Anyway, please leave a review! :)**


	13. I Need My Best Friend

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! I loved the strong reactions to Brooks. You guys are really gonna hate him after this chapter ;)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 13 – I Need My Best Friend**

Jackson walked into the attendings' locker room and frowned when he spotted April in front of her locker. She had already changed into her scrubs and she was pulling on her lab coat.

Last night, they had stayed up for hours talking but they hadn't gotten anywhere. She was still uncomfortable and upset, and they were still in their dry patch. He wasn't happy that she had snuck out of bed and left for work without him.

He sidled up to her and extended the cup of coffee that he had bought for her. "Good morning."

"I already had a cup this morning but thanks."

He closed his eyes and pushed aside his anger and frustration. "Look," he lowered his voice so that their surrounding colleagues couldn't hear them. "If you're going to punish me for things that I did before we even met then I can't do anything but tell you how much I love you and how I only want to be with you for the rest of my life."

She didn't acknowledge that she had even heard him as she kept her eyes downcast and clipped her pager onto her coat.

He quickly regrouped and tried the last thing that he could think of. "You know in _The Way We Were_, when after Katie and Hubbell break up, Katie calls him and asks him to come over because he's her best friend and she needs her best friend. Well, now I need my best friend to tell me how I can fix things with my fiancé."

She finally smiled at him. "You're referencing _The Way We Were_?"

"Yeah," he smiled back. "How many frickin' times have you made me watch that movie?" It was one of her favourites and she cried every time.

She took the coffee out of his hand and continued to smile. "You know it's really hard to stay mad at you when you reference _The Way We Were_."

"I know you better than anyone else," he shrugged. "And you do know me better than anyone else too."

"I'm actually not mad at you," she confessed after a moment. "I haven't been mad at you at all. I just feel really…inadequate." She couldn't even wrap her head around the number of women that he had been with.

"What? You, April Kepner, are anything but inadequate."

She blushed. "Thank you."

He reached up to stroke her cheek with his thumb. "We still need to talk about this. Can we talk about this later?"

"Yes," she nodded. "We will definitely talk about this later."

* * *

After checking on her peds patient, Logan, April headed to the pit and was immediately greeted by Chief Hunt. "Hey Kepner, I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure Chief. What do you need?"

"Trauma certification for the fourth years is coming up and I wanted to know if you wanted to be in charge."

She smiled excitedly, "Yes, I would love to!"

Hunt let out a small laugh. "I thought that you would. Try not to let anyone hijack an ambulance," he jested.

April blushed slightly at the mention of her trauma certification experience. "Yes, sir. It will be completely controlled, I promise."

Hunt glanced behind him and beckoned a hovering intern forward. "Dr. Coles has volunteered to help you and I've assigned him to your service. He's interested in trauma."

She smiled and shook the nervous looking man's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too, Dr. Kepner." He blushed a little bit as he made eye contact with her and his palm was very sweaty.

On the other side of the pit, Elizabeth Avery closely observed the red-head. She turned to the intern standing beside her and motioned towards her patient. "Take him down for a chest x-ray." The intern left with her patient and Cristina Yang appeared at her side. "How was your mitral valve replacement Yang?"

"It was routine," Cristina answered happily. "Do you need any help today?"

"Not right now," she replied distractedly. "You've known April Kepner for a while, yes?"

"Since third year."

"What do you think of her?" Elizabeth asked nosily.

"She grows on you," Cristina acknowledged grudgingly. She hated to admit it but she had come to like Kepner. The perky, former Chief Resident was not about to become her best friend but their relationship had improved. "She's annoying but she's a good surgeon." And she had a good heart.

"What do you think of her for my brother?" The Head of Cardio asked directly.

Cristina didn't have much to offer on that subject but she knew one thing. "They're disgustingly in love. It's nauseating."

* * *

Jackson set his lunch tray down on the cafeteria table where Brooks and Karev already sat. He had spent his morning consulting with Mara Keaton and it wasn't half as uncomfortable as he had envisioned. She was a nice girl, a good doctor, and a real professional. She understood that they had been a one night stand and that he was now engaged. He and April didn't have to worry about any awkward interference from Mara and he was relieved. He didn't need any more drama from women from his past.

"Are you coming with us tonight Avery?" Karev asked as he munched on his chips.

"What's tonight?" He asked in confusion.

Brooks refreshed his memory. "The nightclub with the interns."

"Speaking of interns," Karev snickered.

Jackson turned his head to see what Karev was laughing at and he saw April heading towards their table with her lunch in hand and an intern trailing behind her. He was tall and lanky, his limbs moved almost awkwardly, and he had shaggy, brown hair.

Something about him reminded Alex of when he had first met George O'Malley.

"I will run those labs for you right away, Dr. Kepner," he stated before scurrying out of the cafeteria.

As soon as April sat down, he asked, "Who's the puppy dog?"

"Alex, be nice," she scolded. "His name is Dylan Coles; he's an intern who's interested in trauma. He's on my service."

"I bet he is," Alex teased suggestively.

April glared at him while Jackson instantly asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's the only female trauma attending in the hospital. What do you think it means?" Karev countered.

"That's just the way your mind works," April huffed. "He's a little like me when I first started at Mercy West. He's smart but he's not very confident and he's really eager to please but he doesn't have a lot of social skills."

"Yeah, cuz you have amazing social skills now," Karev jested good-naturedly.

April smacked Alex's arm but laughed as she did so. "You should be kissing the ground that I walk on."

"Why?" Brooks inquired with a laugh.

"Because Stark is giving me great peds case," he explained. "He's testing my abilities, or whatever."

"That's right," April smiled smugly. "You're welcome."

Jackson looked downward a little sulkily as he picked as his fruit bowl. She and Karev had always bantered but usually it was much more spiteful. They were friendly now and growing quite close. He wasn't jealous, he knew that April had no lingering feelings for the guy, but he envied their new friendship. With Brooks in town, he didn't spend as much time with her as he once had. He missed the easy friendship they once had.

"You look sour Avery," Brooks observed. "Another reason you should come out with us tonight."

April found his hand beneath the table and entwined their fingers. "You're going out tonight?" She inquired.

Jackson turned to her and made it very clear that it was not his idea. "They're going to some nightclub and trying to get me to come with them."

She pushed her chair closer to his and spoke quietly. "I told you that I'm not mad, you can go out if you want. I'll be there when you get home. You should have guy time," she added perkily.

"Yeah Avery, guy time," Brooks repeated with a grin.

Jackson leaned even closer to his fiancé and whispered, "Are you sure? You're not pushing me away are you?" Pushing him away would be a classic April Kepner move.

She shook her head and kissed him rather fervently, in the middle of the hospital cafeteria. He was right, the past was the past and she was acting silly. "I'm definitely not pushing you away," she said before joining their lips again.

"Okay, knock it off!" Karev exclaimed as he threw a rolled up napkin at them.

April pulled away with reddened cheeks and returned to eating her lunch.

* * *

"Hey Avery!"

Jackson spun around and faced Sloan, who was approaching from the other end of the hallway. "What's up?"

"Can you take a consult off my hands?"

"Sure." Jackson nodded as he accepted the chart that Sloan offered. He chuckled at Sloan's deviousness as he opened to the first page. "Cardio. My sister wants a plastics consult."

"Yup. I know that she's not exactly your favourite person but two Averys on one case is just too good to pass up. She asked me about you and Kepner this morning," he revealed after a moment.

"Really?" Jackson questioned in annoyance. His sister really needed to back off. "What did she say? What did you say?"

"She just wanted my opinion. I told her you'll be hard-pressed to find two people better suited for each other."

Jackson smiled warmly and muttered, "Thanks."

"No problem. Now go, and don't fight with your sister in the hospital please," Sloan warned only half-seriously.

Jackson laughed, "I'll try not to."

He walked to the patient's room and stood in the doorway. "Dr. Avery," he said with a polite smile. "Can I speak with you for a second?"

His sister smiled at her patient before joining him in the hall. "Yes, Dr. Avery?" She asked innocently.

Jackson decided to get right to the point. "I've heard that you've been asking around about my relationship."

Elizabeth didn't bother to deny it. "I have. Everyone seems to love you two as a couple."

Jackson smiled smugly. "Yes, yes they do. We're in the running for favourite couple, didn't you hear? We'll probably have a hard time beating out Grey and Shepherd but it's an honour just to be nominated," he said sarcastically.

"Very funny," she replied. "She's yet to impress me though."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Whatever Liz. Let's check out your patient."

* * *

Jackson really had no idea what he was doing at a busy nightclub. He wasn't in college anymore. He didn't want to bar hop or dance with women so that he could hopefully have a one night stand but he had let Brooks drag him here anyway and April had encouraged him to have a night with the guys. But he really just wanted to be home with her instead of watching gyrating couples.

He and Brooks were leaning on the bar while Karev talked to a woman a few feet away.

"I think I'm gonna go!" He yelled to be heard over the loud music.

"What?" Brooks yelled back. "You're only on your third beer! The interns aren't even here yet!"

Jackson solemnly sipped his beer before he said, "I don't care about the interns! I want to go home and lie in bed with my fiancé!"

They still had things to talk about. They needed to resolve the lingering tension between them that seemed to present itself only when they were alone. She wasn't mad at him but she wasn't totally happy with him either. Even if they didn't have sex tonight, he wanted to lie next to her and relax while he thumbed through _Sports Illustrated_ and she read the latest medical journal.

"She's not your type Avery!" He had been withholding his feelings about his friend's relationship with April Kepner for a while but it was finally time to tell him. He had watched her since he had moved to Seattle and it just didn't fit. "I've known you your whole life and you've never been interested in the girl next door. She's cute and she has nice tits but she's not what you're into."

Jackson moved closer to Brooks and stated simply, "Things change. I've changed! I'm not the same guy that I was in college. I've grown up. She's beautiful," he corrected. "And don't talk about her body like that."

"Maybe things change," Brooks answered unconvincingly.

Jackson crossed his arms defensively. "She's my best friend and we've been through hell to get where we are. She gets me like no one else ever has, not even you," he said seriously. "She is it for me. I want to marry her. I want her to have my children. You don't even know her," he spat in frustration. "You've been in Seattle for all of five minutes!"

"Listen man, she's a sweet girl and I get why you guys are friends. I just think that you're taking the easy way out with her. You want to have this perfect little family that we didn't have growing up and she's a safe choice. Does she really do it for ya? I mean, does she really get you going?" He challenged. "You don't have mind-blowing, eyes roll back in your head sex with the safe choice and after five years of marriage, and a kid or two, you're going to start screwing every hot resident that takes an interest in your speciality and the Avery name, just like your grandfather did."

Jackson laid his bottle of beer on the bar and clenched his fists. "I forgot what an ass you can be sometimes."

Brooks shrugged, "You're like a brother to me. I'm just being honest with you, man. This whole virgin appeal is going to wear off very soon and then she'll just be a prude who gives you a blowjob on your birthday and won't even consider doing it from behind. She's way too insecure for you."

"Everything is not about sex!" Jackson cried in frustration.

"But it's important," Brooks said as he pointed the tip of his beer bottle at Jackson. "How many happy, sexless relationships do you know?"

"None," he replied quickly. "But that's not the point because sex with April is great. Its fantastic and we have other stuff too! And you're a douche!"

"Its vanilla," Brooks said in a singsong voice.

"What?"

"Its vanilla and we both know you haven't had sex in weeks! I can tell!"

Jackson ignored his last comment and argued. "It's not vanilla! We had sex in the _men's bathroom_ during the _Boards_! That's not vanilla."

"That was also months ago," Brooks pointed out.

"You know what? I am sick of defending my relationship! I am marrying April and I don't care if no one comes to the wedding!" He threw a couple of bills at Brooks before he stormed out of the building.

* * *

April stepped out into the hallway when she heard the front door open. She was supposed to be the only one home tonight, the boys were all out. She was surprised to see her fiancé standing in the porch, and he did not look happy. "Jackson? You're home early, I thought—"

She was cut off when he quickly closed the distance between them and moulded his mouth to hers. He placed his hands on her hips and pushed her against a nearby wall. He was kissing her quite aggressively and it was easy to tell that he had consumed a few drinks.

"April," he groaned as he dropped his mouth to her neck. "It's been so long. I need you. Please."

He sounded so desperate that it worried her. His hands ran up her sides and grasped her breasts rather roughly. "Ow," she squeaked.

His hands relaxed and he murmured against the skin of her neck. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized frantically.

He found the button of her jeans and opened it before he fumbled with the zipper. She soothingly ran her hands along his shoulders and the back of his head. "Do you wanna slow down a little bit?" She asked timidly. "Let's go to the bedroom."

He grinned as he returned to her lips. "Come on, you like it quick and dirty."

April flushed in embarrassment at his words but he kissed her again before she had a chance to say anything. She kissed him back and continued to gently caress his neck and skull in the hope of calming him down a bit. He slipped a hand into her panties and groaned in pleasure due to the warmth he found. He whispered in her ear and she quickly turned her head away from him while pushing on his chest. "Stop, please, stop."

Jackson took a step backwards and he watched her curiously as she slipped out of his reach and refastened her jeans. "What's wrong?" He asked in confusion.

She pushed her hair out of her face and avoided his gaze. "You've been drinking and you're obviously upset about something and I-I don't want to have sex here in the hallway just to make you feel better, and I didn't, I didn't like what you just said," she stuttered. What he had whispered had been crude and degrading, and out of character for him. That kind of language may turn on some women but not her.

"What?" He asked with a small laugh. "Don't be such a prude, April.

Her mouth dropped open in shock. "I-I'm n-not," she stammered.

He childishly rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what your problem is but I'm getting really tired of all your insecurities."

She felt like she had just been slapped across the face. She crossed her arms over her chest and told herself that she was not going to cry in front of him. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed," she muttered quietly.

He wasn't too worked up to miss the look of hurt on her face. He closed his eyes in frustration and placed both of his hands on his head. Why did he listen to anything that came out of Brooks' mouth? "April, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just being an ass." He was buzzed, pissed off, and horny.

She shook her head as she stood in the doorway to her bedroom. "No, Jackson, don't apologize. I don't want you to apologize for saying how you feel."

"That's not…that's not how I feel. I don't even know why I said that. April." He tried to follow her into her bedroom but she put a firm hand on his chest and kept him in the hallway. "April, please."

"Can you sleep in your own room tonight?" She asked softly. "I think it would be better."

"April, please," he begged.

She did her best to ignore him and to not look into his beautiful, pleading eyes. "Goodnight Jackson," she said before closing her bedroom door.

He stayed in front of her door and leaned his forehead against the wood. Why did this keep happening? How had, all of a sudden, sex become this huge, insurmountable issue? What sucked the most was that he would give up sex in a second if she would let him sleep beside her tonight. He took a deep breath before he started to incessantly knock on the door. He was not going to go away easily.

It wasn't until an hour later that she opened the door. She looked annoyed, and rightfully so, but he could tell that she had been crying. "Can you go away please? I'm trying to get some sleep for work." She had had very rough shifts in the past couple of days and she was sleep deprived.

He leaned against her doorframe and reached for her hand. She snatched it away from him and he winced. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Jackson," she sighed, "I'm really tired and I don't want to do this now."

"Not even if I reference _The Way We Were_?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah, not even if you reference _The Way We Were_. So, please, go to your own bedroom. _Please_."

He accepted defeat and nodded. "Okay. I love you."

She sighed again before responding, "I love you too."

* * *

**A/N: Pretty tense chapter. I had this last scene envisioned since I started the sequel so although you probably hate it, review anyway. :)**


	14. Be Honest

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Be Honest**

Jackson rolled over with a loud groan when sunlight streamed into his bedroom. He begrudgingly opened his eyes and saw that Brooks had opened his blinds. "Get the fuck outta my room," he muttered angrily.

"What are you even doing in here?" Brooks asked curiously. It was a lucky coincidence that he had spent the night elsewhere; otherwise he would have had to sleep on the couch.

"April asked me to sleep here because I said some completely stupid, not even true things," he explained with his face still in the pillow. He had been overly vulgar, and forceful, and unlike himself. He definitely didn't think that she was a prude and he had picked on her most fragile character flaw. "And it's your fault."

"Because of what I said last night?"

Jackson quickly sat up and looked at him in disbelief. "Of course because of what you said last night, asshole!"

Brooks held up his hands defensively. "Hey! I told you that I'm not trying to make waves, I was just being honest. I'm looking out for you."

"Make waves? Make waves?" Jackson shouted as he hopped out of bed. "That's all you've done! My relationship has gone steadily downhill since the moment you arrived!" He pushed Brooks hard on the chest and he stumbled out into the hallway.

"Settle down Avery!" Brooks yelled as he regained his footing before slamming into the hallway wall. "We've been best friends since we were five and you're going to fight me over some girl," he stated incredulously.

"Not just some girl," Jackson corrected angrily. "_The_ girl!"

Before Jackson had the opportunity to throw a punch, Karev stepped out of his bedroom and immediately tried to defuse the situation. "What's going on?"

"I think Avery was just about to hit me," Brooks stated slowly.

"Why?" Karev asked curiously as he took another step towards a furious Avery and a hostile looking Brooks. The latter was still wearing his clothes from the night before whereas Avery was in just a pair of boxer briefs.

"Because I told him the truth! He can do way better than April Kepner!"

Jackson lunged towards Brooks but Karev held him back by the arms. "Easy Avery."

"Thank you for having some sense," Brooks sighed in relief. "She's nothing special."

Karev turned back to Brooks with a hard glare. "I didn't do it for you. I did it so that he can operate today and watch how you talk about my friend." He started to push Avery towards the bathroom as he said, "Just get ready for work. Kepner already left."

"She did?" Jackson asked with a frown.

Karev nodded. "Yeah, she did. She said she had to go in early."

Jackson sighed as he padded into the bathroom. It was obvious to him that she didn't need to go in early, she was simply avoiding him. And she had every right to.

* * *

April grabbed her lab coat out of her locker and quickly left the room. It was way too early for an attending to be at work, she was beating the interns to pre-rounds, but she didn't care. She hadn't been able to lie in her bed and think anymore. She needed to work. She wanted a distraction from all of the thinking.

She walked towards the interns' locker room but stopped short when she heard loud chatter coming from inside.

"I have no idea what he sees in her," a voice stated. "She's not even that pretty."

"She's a really good doctor and she is really pretty," a second voice argued. It sounded like her eager intern, Dr. Coles.

A third person laughed, "You have such a crush on her."

"I do not," he muttered timidly.

April was just about to step into the room when the first voice spoke again. "The only reason that a guy like Jackson Avery would be with her is out of pity."

April sucked in a deep breath and took a step backwards. She knew that it was just petty interns but overhearing something like that was the last thing that her self-esteem needed today. She turned around and headed straight for the ER.

She knew that she was insecure, it wasn't exactly breaking news. It was hard for her not to feel insecure around Jackson on the best of days. She knew what people who didn't know them thought when they saw them together. He was just so perfect and she was average in every possible way. And now their levels of experience were finally getting to her, actually she was a little surprised that it had never been a problem before. She had only ever been with him and he had been with so many women. She had been called a prude before, it wasn't a new insult for her, but it had never stung so much.

She was terrified that he was finally being honest with her. She was too insecure to be around and she was too inexperienced to have any fun with. The problem was that she had no idea how to fix either problem.

She sat behind the nurses' station in the pit and logged onto a computer. She wasn't there very long before a cup of coffee was placed in front of her. She looked up expecting to see Jackson, but instead she found Alex.

"Thanks," she said softly as she grabbed the coffee.

"You left in a bit of a hurry this morning so I figured you could use it," he explained. He paused for a moment before he bluntly asked, "What did you do to Avery?"

"I didn't do anything to him," she answered defensively.

"I had to break up a fight between him and Brooks this morning." Her eyes widened in surprise. "It was over you."

"Me?" She asked in shock. "Why?"

"Maybe you should ask him," Alex told her cryptically before he walked away.

* * *

Morning passed slowly in the pit. No serious traumas came in so most of the cases were handed over to residents or other departments for consults. She had gone up to peds to discharge Logan and then took a break to get another coffee and a bit of lunch before returning to ER.

When something eventful finally came into the ER, April wished that it hadn't. Two very drunk men were arguing with each other from their neighbouring beds. They weren't much older than college students.

"It's not even two o'clock," she said to herself as she wondered how they were this intoxicated this early in the day. She pointed to Holmes, a brawny third year resident who reminded her of Charles in build and stature, and told him to try to get the situation under control.

He managed to get one of the men to quiet down but the other one continued to cause a racket. She sighed before she walked towards the beds. "Sir," she began evenly, "you need to calm down or I'm going to have to call security."

The man grinned salaciously. "You are fine."

April refrained from rolling her eyes. A drunken creep was the last thing that she needed. "Can you lie back in your bed please?"

He surprisingly did what he was told and laid back. She reached forward and removed the gauze from his forehead. He had a rather nasty gash and the fact that his blood was thin thanks to alcohol wasn't helping.

"Do I need to be taken to a private room?" He slurred.

She shook her head. "No, you'll just need some stitches."

"You sure? Cuz we should totally go somewhere alone." He reached around her and roughly pinched her backside.

She jumped in surprise and took a step backwards. "Sir," she began with the intention of reprimanding him but Holmes had managed to get himself into a scuffle with his rowdy patient. Holmes ducked on reflex and she didn't even see the fist moving towards her. The next thing that she knew she was laying on the ER floor.

The pit instantly became much more hectic as attendings and residents rushed to help restrain the two troublesome patients while Mark Sloan carefully picked up the small red-head. "You really just got decked, Kepner."

"No kidding," she mumbled miserably. She cradled her right hand as Sloan led her towards a trauma room. She had used the hand to break her fall and she thought she might have sprained it.

She sat on the end of the examining table as Sloan gather some bandages and a suture kit before leaving to get an icepack.

She reached up to inspect her face and she found that her bottom lip was swollen and she was bleeding above her eye. "Ah shoot," she groaned. "Could this day get any worse?" She asked aloud to herself.

Sloan returned and handed her the icepack. "You don't have a broken nose or jaw so that's good. Take care of that lip first and then we'll look at the wrist." He put on a set of gloves and pulled a tray towards them. He dabbed at the cut above her eye. She winced as his hands neared her face with a needle and he laughed. "I'm offended Kepner," he commented. "You have the best plastic surgeon in the country at your disposal. Would you rather I page Avery?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, don't page Jackson. I'm pretty sure he's in surgery and we're not really talking anyway," she revealed in a murmur.

"You're fighting?" He asked in concern. Avery hadn't mentioned anything to him and they had been together almost all morning. He had seemed moodier than usual though. "What about?"

April repositioned the icepack on her lip. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable talking about this with Mark Sloan but she wasn't necessarily comfortable talking to Alex, Meredith, or Cristina either, and Sloan probably knew the most about their relationship out of anyone at the hospital. He was probably the reason that they were still together. She had cried into his chest for God's sake.

"Sex," she finally answered and she blushed involuntarily.

Sloan crinkled his brow in confusion. "Sex?" Avery certainly never complained about Kepner in the bedroom.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I think our vastly different levels of experience are finally becoming a problem."

Sloan placed his hand firmly on the side of her head to hold her still so that he could concentrate on stitching her up.

"I just don't think he's being honest," she continued quietly. "About what he wants and even, how attractive he finds me."

"Don't be ridiculous Kepner. He's crazy about you."

She sighed again. She knew that he was crazy about her. She knew that he was in love with her, that they were best friends, and that he wanted to have a family with her, which made last night so scary for her. Sex wasn't a big deal to her but she didn't want the man that was soon going to be her husband to be with her because he felt obligated, or worst case scenario, out of pity. She wanted _to be wanted_, and it wasn't wrong to want that.

"We haven't…umm…been _together_ in a while," she confessed as she blushed, "for a few different reasons, and there are…certain things that I'm just not comfortable with and I think that he's just fed up. I can't really say that I blame him, and what if we're trying too hard to make this work," she ranted. "What if we're not compatible in that way and we're just forcing it? What if it was supposed to be a onetime thing? What if we're just supposed to be friends who have really strong feelings for each other?"

That logic seemed more and more plausible to her as time passed and maybe returning to being just friends wouldn't be so bad. They would part on amicable terms at least. She wouldn't blame him for anything. They had tried and it just hadn't worked out. There was nothing wrong with that either.

"Do you really feel that way?" Sloan inquired.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I mean, how long can you fake physical attraction?" She had always been attracted to him, it was impossible not to be, but he being attracted to her was just too good to be true. She had always known that.

"Men don't fake anything," Sloan chuckled. "If he wasn't attracted to you he never would have slept with you in the first place. Besides, he once told me that you're the best he's ever had."

"Really?" She asked as she felt her cheeks flush. She couldn't believe that she was talking about this with Mark Sloan, of all people.

"Yup," he nodded. "And you're hot and cute, best of both worlds."

"Thank you Dr. Sloan," she muttered in embarrassment.

"Yeah, you are very—"

"Dr. Sloan, sexual harassment," she teased in a much perkier voice.

"Right," he laughed. "Sorry."

She smiled, "Its okay. Thank you for doing this." She gently touched the skin above her eyebrow when he finished.

"Keeping pretty faces pretty, its what I do," he grinned. He pulled off his gloves and tossed them on the nearby tray. "Are you dizzy or anything? Have a headache?"

"A little but that's to be expected."

"I should probably take you down for a CT scan just to be safe."

Before April had a chance to protest, Jackson frantically stormed into the trauma room and began speaking breathlessly. He had obviously run from wherever he was previously. "What the hell happened?"

"A little drunk and disorderly in the pit," Sloan responded.

"Why didn't you page me?" He questioned as he glared at his mentor.

April spoke up, "I asked him not to."

Jackson stepped towards her and frowned. He gently held her face as he examined her injuries. "Are you okay? Have you been down to CT yet?"

"I was just about to take her," Sloan told him.

"That's okay. I'll do it."

"I don't need a CT scan," April stated stubbornly.

Sloan uneasily headed towards the door. "Well, I'm gonna go if you don't need me anymore."

"Thank you again, Dr. Sloan," April smiled.

He nodded before he slipped out of the room.

"How come you didn't page me?" Jackson asked as he gently pushed her hair out of her face.

"You were in surgery and Sloan was already here, and I didn't wanna make a big fuss about it," she stated in exasperation.

"Well you should have paged me. I had to hear from a nurse that some idiot hit my fiancé. Scared me to death. Don't do that again." He had gone from panicked to furious in a matter of seconds and he was pretty sure that he had never ran faster in his life. It was a good thing that he hadn't been in the pit at the time; he would have torn that guy apart.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely. No matter how awkward things were between them, she really should have paged him to save him the worry.

He noticed that she was uneasily holding her wrist. "Is your hand okay?"

"It's just a sprain," she assured him. "It's nothing." It would still probably keep her from operating for a few days though.

He wrapped her wrist with a bandage Sloan had left before he said, "Come on, I'm going to bring you down to CT, get you some pain meds, and then bring you home."

"Jackson, you don't have to. I can go home on my own."

"I already cleared my schedule for the day." He rubbed her upper arms and willed her to look at him. "I know that I've been a jerk but please stop pushing me away," he whispered. "Just let me explain. Please."

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I don't wanna talk about this here, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded begrudgingly.

* * *

April walked into their apartment with Jackson trailing behind her. She had decided to save herself some agony by not changing into her clothes so she was still wearing her scrubs. Her headache had gotten substantially worse and she was glad that Jackson had insisted on medication.

She walked into her bedroom and stopped in her tracks when she spotted dozens of flowers on her dresser.

"I ordered them this morning, before I left for work," Jackson said quietly from behind her.

She didn't say anything as she proceeded to lie down on her bed. She turned on her side with her head pillowed on her left arm. "Thank you for bringing me home."

"You're welcome," he replied as he lay on her bed as well. "Can I stay here with you?" He asked softly.

She nodded weakly with closed eyes but after a moment she spoke. "We can't keep doing this, its exhausting."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Fighting is exhausting."

"No, not the fighting," she corrected. "This. Us. We tried but it's too hard."

He crinkled his brow in confusion. "Tried what?"

"Being more than friends," she answered. "Its too hard, we're too different."

"So what if we're different," he argued passionately. She couldn't be saying what he thought she was saying. He knew that she would end things between them in a heartbeat if she thought that it was in his best interest but he wasn't about to let her this time. "We have the same job. We want the same things. We feel the same way about each other."

She finally opened her eyes to look at him. "Do we?" She challenged. "Because I know that I'm not exactly the most…stimulating person in the bedroom, and I just can't suddenly get over confidence issues I've had since I was thirteen."

"I sincerely didn't mean any of the shit I said last night and I'm sorry. You were right, I was upset about something and I took it out on you. I will never do anything like that again and that's not how I feel," he reiterated. "But I do think that you should be a little more comfortable with who you are because I don't want you to change a thing. I think that you're perfect just the way you are."

She smiled and felt herself start to get emotional because she knew that he was being one hundred percent honest with her. "Thank you."

He reached forward and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "You don't have to thank me. I love you. I want to tell you things like that everyday."

She took a deep, shuddering breath before she asked a very crucial question. "But what if the spark's gone? What if I'm not enough?"

He moved closer to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she began shakily; "do you still enjoy making love to me? And be honest!"

He guffawed at the absurdity of her question. "You do not even need to ask me that!"

She couldn't help but giggle a little at the smirk on his face. "I have to! I'm a neurotic wreck and I've never done this before and you lost your virginity in a freakin' threesome! And we're getting married so I need to know if you genuinely want me in that way!"

Jackson smiled as he pressed his forehead against hers and rubbed their noses together. "Let me show you."

"Show me what?"

His hand slid up her body to cup her jaw. "How much I love making love to you and how much I want you all the time." He started to slowly push her scrub top upwards and she rolled onto her back and raised her arms above her head.

* * *

**A/N: We really need some Japril next episode. Please leave a review! :)**


	15. New Ground Rules

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 15 – New Ground Rules**

"Wow," April breathed as she pushed her hair out of her face. "Wow," she repeated. Her fingers and toes were still distinctly tingling. She knew that it had been a while but still…she hadn't expected it to be that amazing. She laughed a little to herself as she pulled the bed sheet up to cover her chest.

"Yeah," Jackson chuckled in agreement. "That was unbelievable. Is your wrist okay?" He had been gentle with her slightly swollen lip and bruised eye but she had clutched his back with both hands.

"A little sore," she answered as she laid her right hand across her abdomen. "But so worth it."

He laughed again as he gazed down at her from where he was propped up on his side and she was lying flat on her back. He stroked her cheek with his thumb before running the finger up around her eye. She grimaced a little and he instantly apologized. "You look like a boxer," he teased.

"I know," she laughed. "It is not a good look for me and I know that Chief Hunt isn't going to let me work in the ER for a day or two."

"You still look beautiful," he stated sincerely. He leaned down and gently kissed her top lip and she giggled. "Do you feel better about us?" He asked softly.

"I do," she replied truthfully. "I love you. Thank you for being so patient with me."

"Thank you for being so forgiving. I was a jerk and I'm sorry."

"Its okay," she said with a firm shake of her head.

He was thankful that she had forgiven him but it really wasn't okay. He would be punishing himself for a while. However, he didn't want to argue anymore. "I think that we need to have some new ground rules," he began excitedly.

"New ground rules?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, like no more fighting," he proposed.

"Jackson," she laughed loudly. "We're getting married; we can't say that we're not going to fight ever again!"

"Okay," he grinned. "Well, how about we're not going to fight about meaningless stuff and I don't want you to ever think that I'm not attracted to you. So you're not allowed to ask me stupid questions like 'do I enjoy sleeping with you', okay?"

"Okay," she responded softly.

"Promise," he pressed. He found her left hand and played with her engagement ring for a second before he said, "Pinky swear." She laughed but he looked at her seriously. "I mean it."

"'Kay," she smiled. She entwined her smallest finger with his and he squeezed it as he kissed her again.

She really did feel infinitely better, refreshed and confident, and very satisfied. She was going to make a strong effort to learn how to relax a little more and be comfortable in her own skin. She needed to stop second-guessing everything. Sloan was right, Jackson wouldn't be sleeping with her if he didn't want to and most of the time he initiated the physical aspect of their relationship. She shouldn't have doubted their connection.

"So can we put all these fights about sex behind us?" He asked tentatively.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"You think so?" He questioned. "Is there anything else you wanna ask me?"

She thought about it for a moment before she shook his head. She really was ready to put their recent fighting and tension behind them. "No. I don't want to fight about it anymore. I don't want to act cold towards you anymore. I don't want to think about you and other women. I'm looking forward to the future."

"Good," he smiled broadly. "And do you feel comfortable with sex again?"

"Um, I think so," she answered hesitantly.

His brow wrinkled and his mouth pulled down in displeasure before he leaned down to kiss her again. He wanted her to sound a little surer. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and he positioned his body above hers. She hitched a leg over his hips and he ran a hand along her raised thigh as he deepened their kiss.

He ended their kiss and she observed his downcast eyes and the little smirk that played across his face. "What are you looking at?"

"You." She blushed and it made him smile. "I'm appreciating your body." It had been so long since he had seen her naked, he felt like he needed a moment to look at her. "And I love that I'm the only guy that you've been with, I haven't exactly kept that a secret."

She said his name shyly but he cut her off with a passionate kiss. "I love your lips," he murmured. "Even though one is swollen right now." He smiled when she laughed. He kissed from the corner of her mouth to her ear as he said, "I love your smile, and your dimples, and your eyes."

She closed her eyes and sighed while tilting her head to the side. "Jackson, you don't have to do…what you're doing…" Her words trailed off and she moaned as he dropped his mouth to her neck.

"Yes, I do," he protested. He needed to make sure that she knew exactly how attractive he thought she was. "It's a new ground rule. I love this spot on your neck," he continued.

His lips nibbled on the sensitive skin of her neck and she moaned again. "God, that feels good."

He grinned triumphantly to himself. "Good," he whispered. "I just want to make you feel good."

"You just did that," she pointed out. As she spoke, she massaged his scalp with her fingers in the way that she knew he liked.

"I wanna do it again." He groaned as he felt himself harden again. "And I love when you do that with your fingers. I love your hands on my back and your legs around my waist." His mouth trailed further down her body to her chest. "I love the freckles on the top of your breasts. I love your breasts," he chuckled.

She laughed along with him until he covered a nipple with his mouth, then she made a sound somewhere between a squeak and a moan. She started to squirm but he held her still by placing both of his hands firmly on her hips. "Jackson," she breathed.

He mischievously glanced up at her before pulling his mouth away from her breast and dropping kisses down her stomach. "I love everything about your body, even the scar on your left knee that you got when you were seven when you fell off your bike." He smiled when she giggled a little at his comment. "And I love everything that you do in bed," he stated adamantly. He placed a final kiss on her navel before sliding back up her body. He braced his body weight on his forearms as he held himself above her. "Am I clear?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and swallowed as she met his gaze. His eyes had turned very dark and intense, and she didn't think that she had ever seen him look more serious. Her feelings for him were so deep and strong, and no matter what she had tried to tell herself, they hadn't changed at all over their tumultuous couple of weeks. She loved and trusted him and when she was with him, he made her feel like the only woman he had ever been with. She wouldn't raise her sexual insecurities again any time soon.

She clutched the back of his neck as she lifted her head forward to press her open mouth against his. They weren't kissing. They were just touching and breathing. "Crystal clear," she quipped.

He smiled before he slowly sank into her while tangling his hands in her hair. He bit down on his lip at the shivers that racked his body. "Like frickin' puzzle pieces," he muttered to himself. He took in her reaction, her wide eyes and parted mouth, before he kissed her hungrily.

He felt safe with her. She probably was the safe choice but that was one of the many reasons why he loved her. He knew that she would be an excellent wife and mother. But she also challenged him and wasn't afraid to call him on his bullshit. She understood his sense of humour and she could read his moods like nobody else. Like he had told Brooks, she got him like nobody else ever had. And they did have mind-blowing, eyes roll back in your head sex, it just so happened that it was also loving, tender, and emotionally intimate.

She wrapped her body tightly around his and gasped as he thrust deeper inside of her. She dug her heels into his thighs and tilted her head backwards as a gasp escaped her. He took advantage of her new position and nipped at the exposed skin of her neck. "Jackson…oh my…ungh…right there…God," she moaned incoherently.

"April," he grunted. "You feel so perfect." He knew by the desperate quality to her voice that she was _so close_. All that it took was for him to manoeuvre a hand between their bodies to first caress her breast and then to drop lower.

She screamed his name, completely releasing her inhibitions, and he smiled in satisfaction before letting his own climax take him over.

He rested his head in the crook of her neck and carefully lowered himself down on top of her.

"Now that was wow," he told her.

"Yeah," she seconded breathlessly. "Much wow-er than the first time."

He grinned and slowly raised his head. "Much wow-er?"

She laughed, "Give me a break." She had just experienced the most intense orgasm of her life; she wasn't capable of intelligent thought.

He kissed her temple before rolling onto his back and it suddenly hit her: how lucky she was to have found him. She felt tears start to stain her cheeks but she quickly brushed them away.

Jackson turned onto his side and cradled her face at an impressive speed. "What's wrong?" He cooed. "Did I do something? What is it?"

She shook her head. "It's okay. They're good tears."

He arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" She had never cried after sex before and the sight of her shedding tears instantly troubled him. Even if they were good tears.

She turned onto her side as well and pulled him close so that she could kiss him sweetly. "I'm fantastic. I love you."

He smiled uncontrollably. "Love you too," he responded before kissing her again.

She pulled away from his mouth with a small laugh. "I have one." At the confused expression on his face, she elaborated, "A new ground rule. When you're upset about something, I want you to tell me exactly what you're upset about right away. Can you do that?"

"Absolutely," he assured her. He moved to resume kissing her but she stopped him with a giggle. "What?" He laughed.

"What were you so upset about last night?"

"Oh, um, some stuff that Brooks said really got to me," he explained slowly.

"Is that why you guys were fighting this morning? Alex told me," she added before he had a chance to ask how she knew that.

"Yeah," he admitted. "He just thinks that I'm the same guy I was six years ago and I'm not."

She crinkled her nose and ran her fingers along his biceps. "I'm not sure I understand."

He took a deep breath before he spoke. "I told you about all the women and partying so it's pretty obvious that the guy that I was six years ago wouldn't have deserved your friendship, let alone getting to marry you."

"Jackson, that's—"

"Totally true," he interrupted with a smile.

"What did he say?" She inquired curiously.

He quickly shook his head. "It really doesn't matter. Really," he repeated firmly. She didn't need to hear the things that he had to say. "Trust me."

"Okay," she nodded. "I have another one! No more jealousy."

"I like that one," he smiled. "Wait," he said after a moment. "That doesn't mean that I'm gonna like other guys hanging around, like scrawny little interns for example."

She laughed at the scowl on his face. "If there's no jealousy it shows that we're fully secure in our relationship."

He nodded in understanding as his hands soothingly rubbed her back. He still wasn't a fan of a certain scrawny little intern and he would be keeping a close eye on him. "I want us to remember to spend more time together, and not just for sex," he clarified. "Like to have nights to ourselves, go out on dates and what not."

"Romantic," she giggled as she cuddled into his chest.

"I try," he replied trying to sound smooth. "I also don't want you to push me away, ever, that one really scares me," he confessed.

"I know and I'm sorry," she apologized. She already knew that he hated that but sometimes that was her natural reaction to a situation. It was a defence mechanism. "I'm going to work on that because I don't want you to go anywhere." She placed a hand on the side of his face and kissed him.

Jackson smiled against her mouth as he ran a hand through her hair. They were back and he was thrilled.

"Do you wanna go out in the living room and relax?" He asked her. She should really be resting anyway. "We don't even have to watch sports."

"Sounds nice."

Jackson got out of the bed and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before helping her dress. He didn't want her to aggravate her wrist anymore than she already had. He frowned after getting her into a tank top and her favourite pair of baggy shorts. "That felt unnatural," he commented.

"What did?" She asked in confusion.

"Putting your clothes on, usually I take them off."

"Well thank you for going against nature," she joked. She moved closer to her dresser and smelled the various bouquets of flowers. "And thank you for these, its sweet."

He shrugged. "What I did warranted a lot more than flowers but it was all I could think of this morning."

Not wanting to rehash things that they had already discussed and put behind them, April took Jackson by the hand and led him into the living room.

* * *

Jackson smiled as April shifted in her sleep and fisted his t-shirt. He loved that she was sleeping atop of his chest. He had missed sleeping with her last night. The absence of her soft body next to his and the fragrance from her hair had almost made it impossible to sleep. It was the cruellest punishment.

She had been absolutely exhausted. They hadn't been lying on the couch for very long before she had drifted off with the history channel in the background. She was a little bit of a nerd when it came to what she liked to watch on television and he thought that it was adorable. He continued to rub her back as he grabbed the remote and started to flick through the channels.

The front door opened and Karev walked into the living room. Jackson put a finger up to his lips to signal for the other man to be quiet.

"Hey," he whispered. "I heard about Kepner so I figured she wouldn't wanna cook. I brought home takeout for dinner."

"Thanks," Jackson smiled. That was uncharacteristically considerate for Karev.

"How bad was she roughed up?"

"She has a few stitches, she's going to have a black eye, and she sprained her wrist." The swelling in her lip had pretty much gone down.

"Jeez," Karev breathed. "I would have kicked the crap outta that guy."

"You and me both," Jackson chuckled.

"So, um," Karev began as he sat down in the armchair. "About this morning?"

Jackson didn't need Karev to say anything else. "I'm asking him to move out," he said with an edge to his voice. "He can stay in a hotel until his apartment's ready."

"Isn't he supposed to be your best friend?"

"He _was_ my best friend," Jackson corrected. "Since we were five but you know how residency changes everything."

Karev nodded in agreement. Residency definitely did change everything. Residency had changed him more than he had even imagined. At the beginning of his residency he never would have predicted that he would be a peds surgeon. He also wouldn't have predicted that he would consider someone like April Kepner one of his closest friends.

The front door opened once again and Jackson and Karev both turned their heads toward the doorway.

Jackson carefully got to his feet and carried April, bridal style, into her bedroom. He tucked her into her bed and she looked up at him in a daze. "Go back to sleep, baby," he told her softly before kissing her forehead.

She did as she was told and closed her eyes again before rolling over onto her side.

Jackson closed her bedroom door behind him and found Brooks still standing in the hallway with his bag slung over his shoulder. "We need to talk."

Brooks nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we do."

He dropped his bag onto the floor and followed Jackson out the door. They sat on the front step in silence until Jackson finally spoke.

"I don't think that you should stay with us anymore."

"Yeah I figured," Brooks murmured as he nodded. "And that's cool. Avery, I just want to apologize."

Jackson turned to him in surprise. "You want to apologize?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I do, I was a douche. April is sweet and smart. Great girl, great doctor, and the way that you are with her…I've never seen you act like that around any other chick." Avery looked at the red-head like she was the center of his universe, and she clearly was. "I'm just jealous," he admitted.

"You're jealous?" Jackson scoffed. "Of what?"

Brooks smiled sadly at his oldest friend. "Come on Avery, what kind of woman would wanna commit to me? The only girl I ever got serious about broke my heart."

Jackson vividly remembered the girl that he was referring to. Jenny Birch. They had dated for almost a year during their second year at Harvard. Their breakup was the distinct turning point of Brooks' womanizing. But people do change. He had changed. Sloan had changed. Brooks could change too if he really wanted to. He just had to develop the right attitude or find the right woman.

"Well if you give up on finding someone, that's pretty lame," Jackson jested.

Brooks chuckled and pushed Jackson's shoulder. "If I find a girl, can we double date?"

"Maybe," Jackson smiled.

After a long moment, Brooks asked tentatively. "Are we good?"

"I'll be honest, if she hadn't forgiven me than this would be a completely different conversation but she did so, we'll get there, man."

Brooks sighed in relief, "Good." Avery had been a big part of his decision to take a job at Seattle Grace Mercy West so the last thing that he wanted was to lose his friendship. "I'm gonna be less of an ass, I swear."

Jackson slowly got to his feet as he said, "Let's go inside and get something to eat."

* * *

**A/N: What do you think of their make-up? Please leave a review! :)**

**Also, is anyone else worried that the new scoop released about one of the interns hooking up with their crush is about Jackson? :(**


	16. Focus On The Medicine!

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Focus On The Medicine!**

Alex impatiently banged on April's bedroom door. "Kepner! Are you still riding with me or what?" He needed her for a consult so she had agreed the night before to go in early with him today. It was her first day back since the assault in the pit; Hunt had asked her to take a few days to rest up. Now that her wrist was healed and the bruises on her face had disappeared, she was ready to get back to work. But she wasn't showing any signs of leaving her room anytime soon.

"Yeah! One second!" She called from behind the closed door. "I'm coming!"

Alex screwed up his face in disgust when he heard Avery chuckle and Kepner giggled in response. "You better be saying that to me, not him!" He yelled in warning. "I've already had to listen to you two twice already this morning!"

They hadn't stopped screwing since Brooks had moved out. Whatever they had been fighting about, or disagreeing on, or whatever, since they had started their fellowships, they had obviously resolved. There was no awkward tension between them or sneaking around to avoid each other. They were acting exactly like they had prior to fellowships, like two grossly in love rabbits. They had been that way ever since they had first hooked up.

At the very least, it restored normalcy to his life.

The bedroom door finally opened and April stepped out into the hallway. She was laughing, her cheeks were flushed, and she was smoothing down her hair. Thankfully, she was fully dressed, which was more than Avery could say. The guy was still in just his underwear.

"Oh," Jackson laughed. "Babe, your tag is showing." He stepped up to her and tucked her tag back into her shirt.

She spun back around to face him and smiled. "Thank you." She pecked him on the lips but it wasn't very long before their kiss turned passionate.

"Jesus, not again," Alex groaned. He wrapped his arms around the red-head's small waist and forcefully pulled her away from Avery. "Can you go back to being a virgin, please? Focus on the medicine! Let's go and save lives! Cut people open! Play with kids!"

Jackson and April both laughed as Alex dragged her towards the porch. "I'll see you at lunch!" She told him with a smile. She grabbed her purse and jacket and blew her fiancé a kiss before she left the apartment with the slightly irritated peds surgeon.

Jackson chuckled and ran a hand over his head as the front door closed. He supposed Karev had a point, he and April had been pretty single-minded lately but they had just gone through a fairly long drought and a bout of fighting and insecurity. He wasn't about to apologize for getting his relationship back on track and Karev was a little cranky because it had been a while since he had gotten laid.

He headed for the bathroom for his morning shower. He had a surgery with his sister in a couple of hours and he wanted to make sure that he was punctual and prepared.

* * *

April purchased a cup of coffee and a muffin from the cart in the main lobby and then walked towards the elevator.

She heard running footsteps behind her and smiled when Coles came to stand beside her.

"Dr. Kepner, you're back!"

She smiled brightly, "Good morning, Dr. Coles."

"How are you feeling? I'm on your service again," he declared excitedly.

"I feel great. I'm on my way to peds to meet Dr. Karev for a consult."

"Cool," he grinned. "I haven't done a peds rotation yet."

They stepped into the elevator and chatted pleasantly. April really loved teaching. She had always enjoyed it as a senior resident, monitoring interns and teaching skills labs, but it was an entirely different experience as an attending. She was already in a fabulous mood; multiple orgasms before seven A.M. would do that to a girl, so she was looking forward to her consult and to seeing Coles in peds for the first time.

They walked into the Pediatric Wing and met Alex in the main radiology room. He had already told her everything about his six-year-old patient that had been admitted after falling off of her bike. She had only fractured her wrist but she had been complaining of severe stomach pain. The CT scan came back to reveal old internal injuries that had not healed properly and he couldn't figure out what they had been caused by.

"This is really weird," April said as she got a look at the scan for herself for the first time. She tilted her head and wrinkled her nose. "It almost looks like…"

"The kind of thing my African kids had," he finished. "I know."

"Weird," she repeated. His patient had been born and raised in the United States; she shouldn't have these types of injuries.

"What is it?" Coles asked inquisitively from behind her.

"See this," April began as she pointed to a spot on the scan. "This is abnormal for a patient of her age, environment, and medical history."

"What caused it?" He asked immediately.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Alex answered in annoyance.

April turned to Alex and purposed a plan. "Let's get in there and remove the adhesions, see what's going on."

Alex nodded and passed the intern the patient's chart. "Prep her for surgery and don't freak her out."

"Yes, sir," he said quickly before leaving the room.

"So pathetic," Alex snickered once Coles was out of hearing range.

April scowled, "Alex."

"Be careful, he's going to start writing you love notes soon."

April rolled her eyes. She remembered the other interns teasing him about having a crush on her but she wasn't taking their word as gospel. He was interested in trauma, he just wanted to learn, and she wasn't as harsh as some of the other attendings.

"It reminds me of when you were all lovesick over Shepherd," he teased.

She groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "I've repressed all of those memories because it was so embarrassing." Alex turned to her and dramatically batted his eyes. "Knock it off!"

Alex laughed, "Just let him down easy, heartbreaker."

She rolled her eyes again as Alex left her alone in the room. She took a closer look at the scans in front of her as she pondered the truth behind his teasing. If it was indeed true than Dr. Coles would be the first person ever to have a "crush" on her. That was kind of weird as well.

* * *

Jackson smiled when he spotted April sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria. She had finished her lunch and was occupied with a magazine. He sat down next to her and she turned to him with a cheerful smile.

"Hi, how was your surgery?"

"It was great," he answered before taking the first bite of his sandwich. It had been the first time that Liz had operated alongside of him and he had been flawless. It was a major confidence boost, he was also an Avery who could wow in the OR, and he had shown his sister the beauty and usefulness of plastics. Like Sloan always said, there was valuable work to be done in plastics. Plastic surgeons saved lives in a very different way. And despite the very apparent rivalry, it felt kind of nice to operate with family.

April smiled widely, she knew that he had been jittery about his first ever surgery with his sister. "I'm glad. I wish I could have watched," she smiled. She stole a piece of fruit off of his tray before she returned to her magazine.

Jackson watched her as he ate his lunch. She was looking at another bridal magazine, continuing the trend of wedding planning that she had done during her brief time off. The little details of their wedding were almost done. They had booked a band for the reception, gotten a photographer, registered for gifts, and finalized everything with the caterer and the bakery. He had even taken the liberty to book a hotel room for their wedding night. However, it seemed as if she still had one big thing left to do.

"Have you found a dress yet?" He asked curiously.

She turned to him with a sly grin. "Maybe." He playfully knocked his knee against hers so she told him the truth. "No, I think that I know what I want though but I'm waiting until Alice and Libby come this weekend." Kimmy wasn't able to leave her business but her other sisters were coming to Seattle to take her wedding dress shopping and she was incredibly excited.

"When you pick one do I get to see it?"

"No," she laughed, "that's bad luck."

He acquiesced with a sigh. "I'll have to wait until the big day." He knew that she would look absolutely beautiful regardless so it didn't really matter to him.

She smiled before she leaned in to give him a soft kiss. "Yes, yes you will."

"I guess I should take the weekend to go get fitted for a tux then, huh?"

"Yes!" She replied excitedly. "So pick your groomsmen please!"

Jackson nodded with a small chuckle. He already had his groomsmen picked; he had decided a while ago, he just hadn't asked them yet. "Do you want to see my tux or does that have to be a surprise too?" He asked teasingly.

Jackson had a wonderful sense of style and she knew that no matter what he wore he would look unbelievable. "I trust you." She bit down on her lip as she imagined him in a tuxedo. "Are you finished with your lunch?" She didn't have to be in surgery for a few more hours.

He glanced up at her and smirked at her expression, and her dark, lusty eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah," she breathed huskily.

He stood up and grabbed his lunch tray. "I'm totally finished with my lunch."

They left the cafeteria and quickly found a deserted on-call room. Jackson locked the door behind him before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into an enthusiastic kiss. He loved when she let her guard down and allowed them to fool around at work. Everyone else did it.

"Wanna pick up where we left off this morning?" He whispered as he pushed her towards the bed.

"We made love twice this morning Jackson," she giggled.

He grinned as he guided her scrub top over her head. "And we were about to do it again."

"Yeah, we were," she admitted with a laugh. She fell back onto the bed with a smile and furiously tugged down his scrub pants.

* * *

Jackson pulled April back into his chest as she tried to roll away. "Just stay put for a second," he laughed. She always got dressed directly afterwards when they fooled around at work but the door was locked and they had breaks in their schedules so they had time to cuddle for a little while without interruption.

"Sorry," she apologized meekly. "I'm still getting used to this whole on-call room thing."

He chuckled as he rolled over onto his side and dipped his head to kiss down her neck. "We can work on that too if you want."

She ran a hand along the back of his head as she contemplated his suggestion. "We'll see." He occupied himself with her neck as her mind wandered to something else. "Jackson?"

"Yeah, baby?" He replied distractedly.

"I think I know where I want to go for our honeymoon."

He raised his head in interest. "Really? Where did you decide on?" He was curious to hear her choice. He knew that she had been putting a lot of thought into it.

"California," she answered after a pause.

"California?" He repeated in confusion. Out of all of the places in the world, she had settled on California? "Why?"

"Well," she began with a smile as he raised himself into a push-up position above her. "First of all, you've never been to Disneyland which is a must! And you can do a little bit of everything in California, we can go skiing, camping, shopping, sightseeing, we can go to the beach! We can go to Napa Valley! You keep saying that you've always wanted to try surfing, you can do that!"

She spoke quickly and excitedly, her enthusiasm was obvious, but he was still a tad confused. "April, you can do all of those things in other places too, places across the world that you've never seen."

"Yeah, I know that," she smiled. "But I was thinking that we could spend a couple nights in San Francisco." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. "It would be relaxing and incredibly romantic," she purred.

He grinned as he kissed her. She wanted to recreate their first time together on their honeymoon. He wished that he had thought of that. "I like the sound of that. California it is."

They kissed for a little while longer before April pushed on his shoulders. She could feel him getting excited again but they needed to leave this room. "Okay," she said with a sigh. "Time to get dressed, I've been naked in the hospital for too long."

Jackson laughed but rolled onto his back so that she could get out of the small bed. She speedily put her clothes back on while he moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She handed him his scrubs and he grasped her wrist to pull her down to him. "Just one more kiss," he bargained with a smirk.

She laughed but stepped between his legs none the less. She placed both of her hands on his face and tilted his head upwards for a kiss. "There you go," she smiled. She ran her fingers along his facial stubble before pulling away.

"Thank you." He grinned to himself as he redressed. "You have major sex hair," he laughed before pulling on his scrub top.

She huffed in annoyance as she attempted to fix her hair. "They should have mirrors in here."

"It's sexy," he whispered. "But I'll help you fix it anyway."

He helped her tame her hair before they both emerged from the room.

"Dr. Kepner!" A voice exclaimed. Jackson placed a possessive hand on the small of April's back as they turned towards the voice. Coles sprinted towards them. "I was doing some research," he began breathlessly.

"Take a breath, dude," Jackson advised. He didn't miss the way that the intern's eyes followed his hand as it wrapped around April's waist.

Coles paused and took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I think that I know what's wrong with Dr. Karev's patient."

April's eyes widened excitedly. "Oh my Gosh! Let's go to peds then!" She squeezed Jackson's hand and smiled before leaving.

* * *

Jackson took a moment to look across the operating table at Sloan. The Head of Plastics had invited him to lead on a rhinoplasty and since he had a clear schedule he figured it would be a good opportunity to talk to his mentor. "So I've been meaning to ask you something for a while," he began tentatively.

"What is it?" Sloan questioned curiously without taking his eyes off of Avery's work.

"Well I guess I was wondering if you'll be my best man."

Sloan raised his head and smiled behind his surgical mask. "You want me to be your best man?"

"Yeah," Jackson nodded. Sloan deserved a little credit for everything that he had achieved in his career so far and in his relationship with April, and the older man would be the most calming influence in case he got nervous on his wedding day.

"I'd be honoured Avery," he finally answered.

"Great," Jackson smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem. You made an excellent choice, I'm a great best man," he smiled smugly.

Jackson laughed a little. Sloan had been the last minute replacement best man at Hunt and Yang's wedding and he was the best man at Shepherd's first wedding. His hands stilled and he raised his instruments as his eyes widened in alarm. "Don't sleep with my bride please."

A chuckle escaped Sloan at Avery's train of thought. "No worries Avery. No worries."

"As long as we're clear," he replied jokingly before resuming operating.

"I have something exciting to discuss as well. I've been seriously considering a clinical trial."

"Are you sure that you want to do a clinical trial with me?" Jackson questioned fearfully. If you wanted medical recognition, he wasn't exactly the best doctor to get involved with. He had dropped out of Dr. Webber's diabetes trial for a reason.

"If you won't assist me than I don't want to do it," Sloan stated sincerely. "I don't care if I never win a Harper Avery Award."

Jackson smiled and nodded. "Okay then."

They spent the rest of the procedure discussing a possible clinical trial and Jackson had to admit that Sloan was already a great best man.

* * *

**A/N: So, in regards to last night's episode, as happy as I am to hear Jackson finally admit that he has feelings for April, I can't help but feel like this is the beginning of the end. What do you think? :(**

**And please leave a review! :)**


	17. This Is Your Party

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I've been super busy. I hope that this chapter makes up for it! Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 17 – This Is Your Party**

"I can't believe you're getting married!" April heard Libby say from her spot inside the dressing room.

"That's because you have to have a boyfriend to get married and April hasn't had a boyfriend in ten years," Kimmy quipped.

April rolled her eyes at her younger sister's comment. Kimmy's arrival had been a surprise and despite the teasing, April was overjoyed to have her here. "I think that you're exaggerating a little bit Kim."

April and her three sisters were in a private area of Seattle's most prestigious bridal salon. Much to Jackson's dismay, Catherine Avery had called ahead and arranged a few things for her. She was enjoying it thus far and she would definitely be calling to thank her later. The shop workers had brought a wide variety of styles for her to try on and had even given them champagne! She had never been treated like this in a store before.

She stepped out of the dressing room for the third time today and her sisters instantly shook their heads. "Not this one either?" She asked with a sigh. She turned towards the mirror and frowned. It was straight cut and long-sleeved, and it was nice, but they were right; this wasn't her wedding dress either.

Her cell phone chirped again and she picked it up off of the table surrounded by three plush armchairs where her sisters sat. She smiled as she read another text message from Jackson.

_Find the dress yet?_

She gave him an honest response and asked how his fitting was going.

"Is that him again?" Alice asked with a grin.

"Yeah," April replied shyly.

"Give her a little break." As the oldest, Libby was used to intervening in situations. "They work and live together, they're used to being together all the time."

Alice crossed her legs and sipped from her glass of champagne. "I just think it's cute. Is he romantic? He seems like he would be really romantic."

"He can be," April answered. She smiled to herself as she thought about the flowers and the candle lit bathroom. Just yesterday, their lunch break had been a picnic in the park. He wasn't smothering though; he still got distracted by the television like most men. "He's the perfect amount of romantic."

"I wanna hear about the sex," Kimmy stated bluntly.

April spun around to face her sisters in shock. "Kimmy!" She quickly turned to a guilty looking Alice. "You told them?"

"You know how bad I am at keeping secrets! Besides, it's so easy to tell," she said defensively.

"It is," Libby agreed. "When we picked you up today, I could tell."

"So dish," Kimmy prompted. April blushed redder than she had ever seen and she laughed. "Come on April, I've been married since I was nineteen, I have two kids, and Jackson Avery is delicious. You need to spill."

"I wouldn't mind either," Libby mused.

"And you already talked to Alice, it's not fair," Kimmy added petulantly. "Give some married women some dirt."

"He's wonderful," April said quietly. "He's loving and caring, and tender, and fun. It's amazing every single time," she answered honestly.

"How often? How many times a week?" Kimmy questioned eagerly.

"Well, um," April flushed as she bit down on her bottom lip. "We always try to make love before we go to bed, usually in the morning too unless one of us was on-call or has to go in early, and sometimes we'll do it at work." She saw the look of shock on Libby's face and hastily added, "Don't tell Mom!"

Libby laughed a little at April's panic. "Of course not. We're not teenagers anymore."

"So wait," Kimmy said slowly. "You're saying that you have sex _two to three times a day_?"

"Not every day," April muttered. She knew that their sex life was a little more…active…than the average couple on a regular basis, but they had been going a little overboard since they had reconciled their fight about sex. They were having fun and expressing their feelings for each other.

"How many times have you done it today?" April blushed again and Kimmy grinned. "Tell the truth."

April muttered something underneath her breath and Alice laughed. "What did you just say?"

"Twice," she stated louder. "Twice." They had made love once in bed and once in the shower before her sisters had arrived at the apartment to get her.

"I hate you," Kimmy laughed. "I actually hate you. You're both doctors, aren't you supposed to be tired from saving lives. I'm lucky if Scott doesn't fall asleep before the evening news."

Alice chuckled, "She was a virgin for twenty-nine years, she's just making up for lost time."

Libby smiled at her blushing younger sister. "Go try on another dress, April."

* * *

"Has she found the dress yet?" Sloan asked as he watched Avery type away on his phone. He had been practically attached to the thing during their tuxedo fitting this morning. Now they were back at the jewellery store where they had found Kepner's engagement ring. Today they were shopping for wedding bands while the other groomsmen, Brooks and Karev, had returned home.

"Yeah," he smiled. "She has." And as much as he badgered her, she wouldn't give him any hints about what it looked like.

"Seems a little bit more real now, doesn't it? You just got fitted for your tux, now you're buying wedding bands, and she has the dress." He was putting on a brave face and performing his best man duties but today was particularly hard for him. All of this wedding preparation was making it that much more real to him that he would never get married, the only woman that he had ever truly wanted to marry was dead. But he wanted nothing more than to see Avery happy, the kid was like family to him.

His face must have given something away because Avery asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sloan smiled. "Did you see how dashing I looked in that tux?"

Jackson chuckled, "Yeah I did." He stepped closer to the glass case counter and looked at the wedding bands display. He was leaning towards traditional gold bands, but he wanted to get them engraved, he just wasn't sure what he wanted to say.

"So, Kepner is spending all day with her sisters?"

Jackson nodded. "Yup. They're shopping and going to the spa and then tonight I think that they're going out for drinks with Meredith and Yang."

Sloan grinned, "She's having a bachelorette party?"

"Sort of, I guess," Jackson laughed. "Her sisters won't be in town again until the wedding."

"As the best man, I'm responsible for the bachelor party."

Jackson raised his head and observed Sloan's broad grin. "If you're gonna do that then I don't want like a big thing. Definitely no strippers."

"Okay then, just something small at my place," he accepted. "I'll invite Brooks and Karev; give Derek a call, maybe Hunt too."

"Sounds good," he smiled.

* * *

Cristina grabbed Meredith's arm before she opened the door to Joe's. "Mer, I swear if they all have her voice, I'm outta here."

Meredith laughed, "Come on Cristina."

The cardio surgeon groaned before begrudgingly following her best friend into the bar. They spotted Kepner and her sisters and pulled chairs up to their table. The three other women resembled Kepner but luckily for Cristina, they did not have the pitch of her voice.

Meredith and Cristina grabbed drinks and then the wedding talk began. Even though Kepner rambled about the wedding dress she had chosen and the other things that she had bought, it wasn't as excruciating as Cristina had imagined. Avery had possibly made her less annoying.

After a few drinks, Cristina suggested the next activity. "We need to take her to a strip club."

April flushed and almost spit out her drink. "What?"

The image of the red-head at a strip club made Cristina smile devilishly. "It's a rite of passage."

April shook her head. She was not drunk enough yet to stray that far out of her comfort zone.

"I think it's a good idea," Alice grinned.

"Me too," Kimmy seconded.

"Can we go somewhere else first?" April bargained.

* * *

Derek Shepherd walked through the door of Sloan's apartment with a laugh. "So this is your bachelor party Avery?" He asked as he looked at the five other men sat around a card table. He was the last to arrive apparently.

"He didn't want any strippers," Sloan piped up.

Jackson rolled his eyes as he stood up to shake Shepherd's hand. "Thanks for coming. How is your hand?"

The brilliant neuro surgeon flexed his left hand with a smile. "It's getting there." He took a seat next to Brooks and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll soon be showing this kid a thing or two. I hear he's better than all the other attendings in my department."

Hunt nodded in confirmation. "He is. In the pit, he's now the number one page for a neuro consult."

"Okay," Jackson groaned, "you're going to make him even cockier than he already is."

Brooks smirked, "Jealous?"

Sloan got up from the table to get his best friend a beer. "Where's Zola?" He asked curiously.

"Having a play date with Sofia across the hall."

On his way back to the table, he lightly smacked Karev across the back of the head. "We took Avery's phone away from him so that he wouldn't text Kepner all night, so you can't be glued to your phone either. Who are you talking to?"

Alex hastily pushed his cell phone back into the pocket of his jeans and shrugged. "No one, not important," he muttered almost inaudibly.

Jackson turned to his roommate in shock. "Are you seeing someone?" He hadn't brought any women around the apartment in a while. He seemed to be very busy with work, but maybe he had a serious girl instead.

"Can we get back to playing cards?" Alex asked impatiently.

"He totally is," Brooks laughed.

"We've only been out a few times," he admitted after a sigh. "Sloan, deal!"

Sloan began to deal the cards but he shared knowing glances with the other men at the table. Karev definitely had a woman.

They played poker, drank beer, and spent the majority of the evening teasing Avery about Kepner and marriage.

Until Hunt asked an interesting question that turned the conversation.

"So Shep, when are you moving into the dream house?" The big move had been understandably put off due to everything that had happened after the plane crash.

"I'm not sure if we are," he answered honestly.

"What?" Sloan asked in surprise.

"I'm not sure if Meredith wants to part with her house and I'm not sure if I want to make her." Her childhood home had memories that his wife did not want to part with.

"So, you're going to sell it? You put so much work into it," Hunt pointed out.

"I was going to sell it if we moved to Boston," he rationalized. "And we both have bigger dreams than that house." He exchanged a glance with Sloan before he tentatively asked, "Are you looking for a house Avery?"

Jackson looked up from his cards. "What?" He had definitely misheard Shepherd.

"Are you looking for a house?" He repeated.

"No," Jackson answered. "We've talked about it briefly but there's no rush."

"No rush?" Sloan chuckled. "So you and Kepner are going to be newlyweds in an apartment with Karev?"

Karev turned to Jackson and wrinkled his nose in displeasure. "Yeah, I'd really prefer if I wasn't around for the honeymoon phase."

"There's just been so much else going on," Jackson stated weakly. He wanted to look for a house. He would love to return from their honeymoon to a brand new, roommate free house, but if they couldn't make that happen then it would be okay.

"Give me a call if you want to take a look at the house sometime," Shepherd told him.

* * *

Jackson pulled on a pair of sweats in a haze of sleep and confusion as the doorbell rang. Karev was gone somewhere mysterious for the night and April was at the hotel with her sisters. He had no idea who else would be ringing their doorbell this late at night, it was after two o'clock. His beer addled brain couldn't process the possibilities.

He stumbled to the front door and smirked when he found his drunken fiancée on the doorstep. He fully awoke instantly and leaned against the door. She looked _really _good. Her hair was done in curls; she was wearing dark makeup, tight, black jeans and a grey, short-sleeved top. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled sheepishly, "I forgot my key."

He laughed as he took her hand and pulled her inside. "I mean, what are you doing here tonight?" She slipped her arms around his waist and pushed her body against his as she bit down on her bottom lip. Everything about her body language screamed desire. "April Kepner," he began in mock horror. "Are you here for a booty call?"

She giggled as she kissed his neck. "Maybe. I missed you." They had texted all day but it just wasn't the same.

"I kinda feel like a piece of meat," he said teasingly as she pushed him back towards his bedroom.

She giggled again and lightly nipped his chin. "You're not. I like your brain too. I promise that we'll talk after."

He chuckled as he cradled her face and tilted her head upwards so that he could kiss her. He could tell that she had had a lot to drink but she was just so friggin' cute. "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yeah, being the bride-to-be is awesome! I got lots of free drinks and a lap dance!"

Jackson laughed loudly as he sat down on the edge of his bed. He thought that it was hilarious that they taken her to a strip club, he could only imagine how embarrassed she had been. It had to have been Yang's idea. "Oh yeah? Was he cute?" He asked playfully.

She straddled him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yeah, he was pretty cute." He pinched her thigh and she squealed. "Not as cute as you obviously."

"That's what I thought," he grinned.

"Did you have fun?" She asked in return.

"I did. It was a good time," he answered as he ran his hands along the outside of her legs.

She leaned in to kiss him and he slid his hands up to cup her behind. "What did you do?"

She kissed his chin and along his jaw while he spoke. "We drank beer and played cards."

"Male bonding?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "Male bonding."

"Did you miss me?" She purred seductively.

He answered her question by steering her lips back to his and hungrily kissing her. She moaned and gripped his back while opening her mouth wider to allow his tongue entrance. He scooted up towards the top of the bed and carried her with him. When he pulled away to take a breath, she moved down to kiss his neck. She giggled before leaving a love bite on his skin.

She never gave him hickeys and he instantly knew that he was in for an interesting night.

"This has to come off," he said more to himself than her as he started to unbutton her shirt. He got her out of her top quickly and ran his fingers along the edge of her black, lace bra. He groaned in protest when she pushed his head away from her cleavage.

She placed both of her hands on his face and looked at him seriously. "What is it with men and breasts?"

He laughed as his hands travelled up her sides. "That can't be explained to a straight woman, and your breasts are perfect so just let me…" His sentence turned into another groan as she swatted his hands away and pushed him down onto his back. "You're killing me April."

She grinned while trailing kisses down his chest. "Patience is a virtue," she chimed.

"So overrated," he replied a little breathlessly. His breathing increased as she moved further down his torso. She tugged down his sweat pants and boxers and he gasped in anticipation. He tangled a hand in her hair and said her name through gritted teeth. She let out another drunken giggle before she placed her mouth on him.

He wasn't proud of how quickly she unhinged him but he loved her mouth, and her hair…and the way that she glanced up at him with twinkling, mischievous eyes. He panted as she flopped onto her back next to him. "Whoa," he managed to say.

She laughed and lightly smacked his chest. "You are welcome."

He chuckled and turned over onto his side. Her hair was a mess, thanks to him, and she was lying on the bed in her bra and jeans. She still had her heels on. He lowered his head and started to kiss along her stomach. "You look really hot tonight by the way," he murmured against her skin.

"Must be why I got so many free drinks," she joked light-heartedly as she ran a hand along the back of his head.

He growled as he possessively gripped her hip. He circled his tongue around her navel and opened the button of her jeans. "My turn." He had barely started peeling the material from her body when her hand dropped from around his neck and her breathing evened out. He glanced up at her and couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She had fallen asleep. "So cute," he smiled to himself.

He carefully got up off of his bed and pulled his boxers back on. Instead of trying to put her in the bed and risk waking her, he grabbed the blanket out of his chair and draped it over her.

* * *

April woke up in a state of bewilderment. She had a small headache and she could not figure out why she was still wearing her jeans, or why she was lying on top of the bedcovers, instead of underneath them. She stretched her limbs and sluggishly rolled over to meet Jackson's grinning face. "Morning sleepy head."

She groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "What happened? Did I pass out?"

"Yeah," he laughed softly. "You fell asleep before you let me do anything to you."

"Wow, just when I thought I couldn't get any dorkier."

He pulled her into his chest and smiled. "You were ridiculously cute and hot, a little bit of a tease." He felt her face warm as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Best booty call I've ever had."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and cuddled into his chest. "That's very sweet…in its own way," she added with a chuckle. She ran the fingers of her right hand down his neck and stopped at a mark. "Did I do this?"

He hummed and ran his hands along her back. He laughed when he felt her relax in his arms. "Are you going back to sleep?"

"Maybe," she mumbled. "I'm tired from all of my bachelorette partying."

"And from giving me excellent head," he whispered.

"Yeah, that too," she stated smugly. "I remember that part."

He deftly unbuttoned her jeans and pulled down the zipper. He started to push the denim down over her hips as he nibbled on her earlobe. "This is your wakeup call."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review! :)**


	18. Today Is a Big Day

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Today Is a Big Day**

April opened the door to the skills lab and found Jackson sitting at one of the tables with a container of green grapes in front of him. Alex had told her that he was in here trying to relax by practicing microsurgery techniques. He was nervous, today was a big day for him. He and Sloan were presenting their clinical trial to the hospital board after lunch and it was very important to him. His grandfather was possibly the best surgeon that the country had ever seen. His mother was a trailblazing urologist. His sister was a cardio God. He wanted to make his own surgical landmark separate from the rest of his family and a clinical trial could be the beginning of that.

Jackson had dressed for the occasion and he was clean shaven. He was wearing black slacks and a grey dress shirt underneath his lab coat. He looked very handsome.

She walked up to him and placed a cup of coffee and a pastry on top of the table. "I brought you some breakfast," she smiled.

He laid his instruments down before raising his head and removing the surgical glasses he was wearing. "Thank you."

"I missed you this morning," she murmured as she started to rub his back.

"I went for a run and then I came in early to go over my talking points," he explained.

"Well you look very nice," she told him as she fixed his collar. "And you're going to do great. There's no way the board is going to say no."

She had a lot of faith in their clinical trial and it wasn't all bias. They were hoping to investigate a new, groundbreaking technique in breast and nipple reconstruction following breast cancer. They could help millions of women, and men, restore normalcy to their lives after overcoming cancer. It was definitely potentially award winning in the field of plastic surgery. At the very least, they were going to get published.

She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly before she sat down on the stool next to him and grabbed a grape.

"I'm kinda worried about Sloan," he chuckled. "Torres says that he never prepares for anything. He relies on his charm. He wants me to use the Avery sparkle."

"I've always been partial to the Avery sparkle," she grinned.

"If only you were on the board," he laughed.

The door to the skills lab opened and Coles poked his head inside. "Everything is all set up Dr. Kepner!"

"Perfect," she smiled happily. "I'll be there in a second!"

Coles left and Jackson turned to his fiancée curiously. "Set up for what?"

"Trauma certification," she answered as she hopped off of the stool.

Jackson closed his eyes and groaned. It was trauma certification day for the fourth year residents and it had completely slipped his mind. "I completely forgot. I'm sorry."

"Its okay," she smiled brightly. "Today is a big day for you." It was a big day for her as well but she was excited as opposed to nervous. She had been practically bouncing off the walls since she had arrived at the hospital this morning. She couldn't wait to put the fourth years through their paces. What Hunt had made them endure was exhausting and she planned on giving her residents the same treatment. She remembered that day and night very clearly. The tests. The rain. The frustration. How she had lost it and commandeered an ambulance. But it was the day that she realized that she had what it takes to be a trauma surgeon and she hoped that someone else realized that today as well.

Jackson grinned and placed his hands on her hips. "You know it's supposed to rain tonight."

She met his gaze with a mischievous smile. Her eyes were sparkling. "I know."

"You have a dark side Kepner," Jackson teased.

"I know," she giggled. She leaned forward and softly kissed him on the lips. "Good luck with your presentation, you're gonna do great!"

"Thanks babe." They kissed again and he slipped his fingers underneath her scrub top so that he could caress her bare skin. "Can I have a good luck quickie?" He asked devilishly.

"No," she laughed. But she did wrap her arms around his neck and gave him a very passionate good luck kiss. She patted his chest before she pulled away. "When the board says yes, I'll rock your world. We can celebrate tonight," she suggested seductively.

"Mmm," he hummed as he licked his lips. "You sure know how to motivate a guy."

She shrugged nonchalantly while a smile played across her face. "I do what I can." She pecked his lips again. "I'll be sending you out good luck vibes. Go and change the world."

He chuckled as his hands fell from her hips. "Have fun torturing residents."

"I will," she laughed as she left the room.

* * *

Sloan laughed exuberantly and clapped Avery on the shoulder as they walked down the hallway away from the main conference room. "I think we did it!"

Jackson smiled and nodded in agreement. Their presentation had been near perfect and the board had seemed pleased and impressed. They had financial funding already lined up; all they needed was clearance from the hospital board. Larry Jennings was going to tell Sloan their decision by the end of the day and Jackson had a very good feeling.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Jackson asked after a moment. They had both cleared their schedules for the day.

"We could go watch the fourth years squirm," Sloan proposed.

"Good idea," he smiled.

They walked to the back entrance of the hospital and stepped outside where the trauma certification was setup. They leaned against the wall and observed the anxious and frustrated faces of the residents as they worked on their dummy patients. Jackson grinned as he watched April navigate through the separate mats.

"Parker," she called. "Your patient just went into hypothermia."

"You're loving this aren't you?" Sloan asked out of the side of his mouth.

Jackson merely continued to grin. April looked authoritative and in charge, it was very sexy. It was also great just to see her look so confident and sure of herself. She was a great doctor; she should act that way around her residents.

"It hasn't started to rain yet," he remarked with a chuckle.

He and Sloan had just started a running commentary on the residents' progress when Dylan Coles rushed towards them. "Dr. Kepner is wondering how your meeting went."

"It was great," Sloan boasted. "We got it in the bag."

Before Jackson could add anything, Coles had run back across the pavement.

"Is that kid for real?" Sloan laughed in disbelief.

"Yeah," Jackson nodded. "He's all 'everything is set up for you Dr. Kepner', 'your patient is prepped for surgery Dr. Kepner'." He rolled his eyes as he finished his impression. "He's at her beck and call every minute of every day." Coles' enthusiasm had gotten even worse since he had solved the medical mystery of her and Karev's peds patient. He even fetched her morning coffee.

"And he's staring at her ass," Sloan added.

Jackson glanced up to see that Sloan was right but he shrugged it off. They were beyond jealously now and April was gorgeous, men were bound to stare at her. He didn't like it but he wasn't going to get worked up over it. "He's harmless…annoying, but harmless."

"I think his crush is kinda cute," Sloan stated mockingly.

Jackson chuckled and gently elbowed the older man in the side.

Sloan opened his mouth to make another jab but they were interrupted by Karev joining them. "How's it going?" He asked. "Anybody cracked yet?"

"I dunno," Jackson answered slowly. "I guess that depends on if you're still dating someone or not."

Karev was still glued to his phone anytime that he wasn't in surgery and he rarely spent the night at the apartment anymore. He didn't eat a lot of his meals with them anymore either and he didn't go to Joe's as often. But he still wasn't giving Jackson, or anyone else, any details. Jackson wasn't even sure if Karev's latest conquest worked in the hospital. He was undeniably curious while April encouraged him to leave their roommate alone. She was happy that their resident skank magnet seemed to be legitimately dating someone. It was common knowledge that he hasn't been serious with anyone since his ex-wife.

"None of your business, dude," Karev replied shortly. "Besides, you were screwing Kepner for a really long time before you let me know. You had no problem keeping me in the dark, hypocrite."

Sloan chuckled, "He's got a point."

"Have you looked at the McDream house yet?" Karev asked to change the topic.

Jackson shook his head. "Nope, not yet." He hadn't mentioned it to April yet either. He wasn't sure what her reaction would be.

Sloan quickly turned to his partner in crime. "Why don't we go check it out now? We're free."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Sloan nodded. "I'll call Derek."

* * *

Jackson walked around the living room and looked at the home in awe. The dream house really lived up to its title, it was beautiful and spacious. It had a pristine and modern kitchen that April would absolutely love. There were four bedrooms and the master had a huge walk-in closet. There was a beautiful fireplace and floor to ceiling glass windows. Also, there was so much land. They could fill the house with kids, have barbeques on the deck, and build a swing set in the back yard. The house was perfect. It was the perfect place to raise a family but he wasn't sure if he would feel right about buying it. Shepherd had put so much time, effort, and labour into this place, and he had envisioned his own family in this house.

"So what do you think?" Derek asked as he leaned against the island in the kitchen next to Mark.

"I love it."

He could hear hesitation in the younger man's voice. "But?"

"It's just," Jackson frowned, "Are you sure that you and Meredith aren't going to want to move in here eventually?"

Derek smiled wryly. "I'm sure. We're sure. We've talked about it, and we're putting this house up for sale soon. You get the first look."

"It's a steal Avery," the plastic surgeon pushed.

Jackson nodded in agreement. "It is."

Derek smiled as he tossed Jackson a set of keys. "Show April and then get back to me."

"You know you want it Avery," Mark chimed.

Jackson laughed and gestured towards his mentor. "Is he your real estate agent?"

Derek chuckled but he was interrupted by his best friend's pager.

"That's probably the board," Jackson stated fearfully.

"We should head back," Mark said with a nod. "Hear the good news," he said optimistically.

* * *

Jackson sat in the attendings' lounge with Derek Shepherd and anxiously waited for Sloan to return. A bottle of champagne sat on the table in front of them just waiting to be opened if…when…they got the good news. The door opened and both men sat up straighter in their chairs. Jackson let out a small sigh when they saw that it wasn't Sloan, but Torres.

"He's not back yet?" She questioned dejectedly.

Derek shook his head. "Nope, still with the board."

The group of doctors slowly grew as Karev, Brooks, Grey, Bailey, and Hunt all joined them. The last few clinical trials at Seattle Grace Mercy West hadn't exactly gone as planned. They all needed something to put their faith in again.

Finally, Sloan stepped into the room with a huge smile on his face. Jackson jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together. "We got it?"

"We got it," Sloan confirmed.

They laughed happily as they engaged in a half-handshake, half-hug and Hunt promptly opened the bottle of champagne.

* * *

April walked into the deserted attendings' locker room after the trauma exercise was over with a satisfied smile on her face. It was late, dark, and she was soaking wet, but watching the fourth year residents scramble all day had been quite entertaining. A few of them actually showed some promise. All hope was not lost. She had paid special attention to the ones with undeclared specialities since a skills lab like that was a solid indication of how they would perform in a real life situation.

She laughed to herself as she grabbed a towel from the closet. It had not rained like this in months and her scrubs were practically sticking to her body.

She turned around when she heard a whistle from the doorway. She smiled uncontrollably when she noticed Jackson's relaxed posture and spotted the smug grin on his face. She hadn't been able to speak to him since this morning but she knew what he was about to say. "The board said yes?"

He nodded as he stepped into the locker room and closed the door behind him. "They did," he grinned. "A bunch of us have been at Joe's celebrating for the past couple of hours."

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely. "I just finished trauma certification."

"I know, I tried calling you a couple times," he stated as he glanced towards her cell phone sitting in her locker. "But its okay, don't worry about it. You'll just have to catch up with me drinks wise."

She laughed before lightly kissing him on the lips. "I am so proud of you," she murmured. "Its official, you have your own clinical trial."

"I do," he smiled widely.

"Okay," she began in a purposeful tone. "I'm just gonna dry off and change my clothes and then we can go to Joe's to celebrate," she said as she pulled the elastic out of her hair.

Jackson sat down on the bench and watched her run her towel over her long, auburn tresses. She looked great wet; her drenched scrubs really emphasized her curvaceous figure. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to go back to Joe's anymore. Sloan would understand if he did not return.

"Do you need help getting out of those scrubs?" He inquired suggestively.

She looked over her shoulder and caught the roguish smirk he wore. "I think I got it under control," she laughed as she threw her towel at him.

He promptly rolled up the towel and snapped it against her backside.

"Ow!" She squealed. She spun around to face him and smacked his upper arm. "What did you do that for?" She asked incredulously.

"To see that reaction," he chuckled. "And I've always wanted to do that."

He laughed when she hit him again before turning back to her locker. She grabbed a fresh change of clothes as she rambled. "After Joe's do you want to get something to eat? I'm actually starving. It's late so it won't be anything fancy but we could go to the diner around the corner. Their food is pretty good and they're open all night."

He merely hummed as he got to his feet and stood behind her. He grabbed the hem of her scrub top and began to guide it upwards. "Yeah we can get something to eat…after," he whispered.

April smiled to herself as she raised her arms above her head. The tank top and bra that she was wearing underneath were just as soaked as her scrubs. "I did promise you world rocking, didn't I?"

After discarding her top into the nearby laundry bin, he pushed her wet hair to one side and leaned forward to kiss her neck. "Yeah, I seem to recall something like that."

"And I really need to get out of these wet clothes…"

"Mmm hmm," he agreed against her damp skin. He reached around to start to untie the drawstrings of her scrub pants but she squirmed away from him with a giggle. "You drive me nuts, you know that?" He asked as he fought a smile.

She grinned mischievously as she headed towards the locker room's lone bathroom. She beckoned him forward before she pulled her black tank top over her head.

Jackson tossed his jacket in his locker before he followed her into the small room. He closed the door behind him and chuckled when she pushed him up against it.

"Am I driving you nuts now?" She asked as she nipped his chin.

"Yeah," he grinned. He loved the side of her that got a little bit of a rush from breaking the rules. "In the best way possible."

She giggled and rid him of his t-shirt before latching her mouth onto his.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review!**

**Note: I will be abandoning my posting schedule for 2 or 3 weeks. It's time for final papers and final exams so I'm just way too busy but don't fret, I am not giving up on this story! :)**


	19. The Perfect House

**A/N: In honor of funluver's birthday! Enjoy the update :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 19 – The Perfect House**

"I don't like this," April stated nervously.

Jackson smirked to himself as he looked out of the corner of his eye at his blindfolded, anxious fiancée sitting in the passenger seat of his car. "That's the fourth time you've said that since we got in the car," he chuckled, "and it's because you're a control freak."

"I know I am," she admitted. "We didn't need to do this exercise to prove that. Surprises put me on edge. My parents never threw me a surprise party because they were afraid that I would freak out and cry."

He laughed as he reached across with one hand and gently rubbed her knee. "Relax," he said soothingly. "This is a good surprise, a romantic surprise."

Tonight was date night so they had gone bowling, according to April he hadn't bowled enough in his lifetime, and then they had grabbed dinner at a pizza place. Jackson felt that tonight was the perfect time to bring April to the dream house and he wanted it to be a big reveal, so he had blindfolded her, and it had taken a lot of sweet talk.

April wrung her hands in her lap and shifted in her seat. "Where are we going? We've been driving for a long time. Are we on the expressway?"

Jackson laughed at her questions as he took a right turn. "We're almost there."

"I'm going to kill you when you take this blindfold off me, Jackson Avery."

He laughed again as he parked the car. "We're here. Don't take the blindfold off yet though!" He hopped out of the car and rushed around to the other side. He opened her door and gentlemanly helped her to her feet. He pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. He couldn't help but smile at the very unimpressed expression on her face. "I wanna kiss that frown right off your face," he murmured as he pressed his lips against hers.

She begrudgingly smiled as she returned his kiss. "You're going to have to make this up to me with more than kisses."

He grinned as he finally reached behind her head to untie the cloth that covered her eyes. "Oh I can definitely do that."

April quickly yanked her blindfold away from her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she stared at the large, beautiful house in front of her. She spun around but there was nothing to see but woods. "Where are we?" She took a closer look at the house and her eyes widened in realization. "Is this Meredith and Derek's house?" Jackson smiled but didn't answer her as he made his way towards the house in long strides. She followed him up over the stairs of the deck and towards the front door. "Are you breaking into Meredith and Derek's house?" She asked incredulously.

"Of course not," he laughed. He pulled the keys out of his jacket pocket and dangled them in front of her. "I have the keys."

Now she was even more confused. Why would he have a set of keys to Meredith and Derek's new house? "Can you tell me what we're doing here, please?" She demanded.

"We're here so that you can see the house," he told her.

"Why?" She probed suspiciously.

He smiled brightly and grabbed her hand to entwine their fingers. "Open your mind Kepner," he teased. He unlocked the door and led her inside the home. He flicked on all of the lights and gently pushed her into the dining room. "It's such a perfect house. Just take a look around."

"You've been here before?"

"Well," he smiled smugly. "I did help build the deck." She arched an eyebrow and he laughed. "I came out here with Shepherd and Sloan a few days ago."

She walked around the house to appease him and met him in the kitchen. "It's a lovely house with a beautiful view but I still don't understand why we're here. It's actually kinda creepy that we're here, at night, without Meredith or Derek."

Jackson fingered the contract that Shepherd had left on the island counter before he raised his head to meet April's slightly frustrated gaze. "They're putting this house up for sale."

"Why?" She asked in confusion. "They've been planning this for years."

"Yeah," Jackson nodded, "but it's not right for them anymore." He paused before he confessed, "Shepherd wants me to buy it."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I mean, we're going to be married soon and he knows that we want to have a family." He walked around the island so that he was standing beside her and he placed a hand on her lower back. "And won't it be amazing to finally have a place of our own?" He placed his mouth against her ear and whispered mischievously, "We can have sex anywhere we want. You can cook dinner naked if you ever have the desire."

She laughed at the absurdity of his statement before she stepped away from him. "How long have you been thinking about buying this house?" She asked as she looked out the windows and towards Seattle.

"A couple weeks," he replied casually.

She nodded and repeated, "A couple weeks."

"Are you upset?" Jackson asked tentatively. He was unable to gage her reaction because she was standing with her back to him.

"No, I'm not upset," she replied quietly. "It's just," she sighed, "this house is perfect but it's almost too big and kinda far from the hospital, and totally out of our price range."

He quickly moved to stand behind her and he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "It is far but it's so beautiful and peaceful out here. Can't you just picture raising kids out here?" He whispered hopefully. "Don't worry about the money."

"We're paying for a wedding," she reasoned glumly.

"I have money. I have a whole Avery trust fund I haven't touched yet. I can easily afford this house if you want it." She stepped out of his reach yet again and he frowned. "_Now_, you're upset."

She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't want you to buy a house for me. We're supposed to be partners and I can't afford to pay for half of this house or probably any house right now." Since she had taken a fellowship at Seattle Grace Mercy West, she still had a substantial student debt and her salary wasn't as high as it would have been at other hospitals. She knew that Jackson lived comfortably and she didn't want to use him for his money. She was used to financially taking care of herself and budgeting, she knew that she was good at it. "It's a nice idea but…"

Jackson scratched his head as he thought of the appropriate thing to say. "When we get married it will be our money. What's mine is yours right? So let's just skip ahead to that part now."

She turned around and softly smiled at him. "You're sweet."

He took both of her hands in his and pulled her into his chest. "I'm trying to start our life together the right way and this house…" His words trailed off and he smiled uncontrollably, "And this house is a _great _start and Shepherd really wants us to have it. He and Sloan are practically badgering me about it."

She bit down on her bottom lip in contemplation. "If you buy this house for me it's a little like prostitution."

He laughed boisterously before he kissed her on the top of the head. "Very high class prostitution," he retorted jokingly. She whined his name and he hugged her tightly. She was just too cute. "I'm going to be your husband; I love the thought of buying this house for you. It makes me very happy but if it's not going to make you happy then I'll tell Shepherd that he can put it on the market."

She rested her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath as she gazed out the windows. "It really is beautiful," she murmured quietly.

Jackson smiled to himself as he ran a hand repetitively up and down her back. He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was caving. "You can take a little time to think about it if you want."

She tilted her head to look up at him and she thoughtfully chewed on her bottom lip. "No, I don't need to think about it. Let's do it! Let's buy the house!"

"Really?" He asked excitedly.

She nodded and responded even more confidently. "Yes! I want to." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. She kissed him hungrily and he eagerly responded. She giggled as he broke away from the kiss to nibble on her jaw and his hands slid down to cup her behind. "We can't…not here…we don't own this house yet."

Jackson chuckled against her neck. "Technicality."

Neither his hands nor his mouth were letting up so she moaned out, "The car. Let's go back to the car."

He raised his head so that she could see his excited grin. "You wanna go back to the car?"

"Uh huh," she replied as she kissed him hotly before racing out of the house.

He laughed to himself as he turned off all the lights and locked the house. He returned to the car and slide into the driver's seat. He reclined the seat back and smirked when April pounced on him. She had removed her shoes and jeans and so he ran his hands along her bare thighs as he teasingly whispered in her ear. "Someone's a little frisky."

She giggled softly while unbuttoning his shirt. "We're buying a house," she stated elatedly. "I can't believe it." She leaned forward to kiss him and added, "And I've never done anything in a vehicle before. It's kind of exciting."

His eyes sparkled naughtily as he slipped her jacket off of her shoulders. "Car virgin."

"Imagine that," she retorted good-humouredly.

He laughed before tangling his hands in her hair and passionately pulling her down to him. He removed her clothes until she was down to just her bra and underwear and he managed to squirm out of his shirt in the confined space. He pushed the straps of her bright blue bra down her shoulders as he peppered kisses along her collarbone.

April ran her hands along the back of his shoulders and moaned his name. "Jackson, unbuckle your pants now."

He chuckled at her command. "Control freak," he name called. "Is that why you like being on top?"

"Maybe," she answered evasively. "Do you not like it…when I'm on top?"

"No," he corrected her quickly. "I love it." He kissed along the edge of her bra. "I get to kiss so much of you." His large hands slid down her waist to her hips. One of his hands slipped into her panties and she gasped at the contact. "I get to touch so much of you." His eyes trailed over her body…her flat stomach, heaving breasts, and swollen lips… until their gazes met. "I get to see everything. Men are very visual creatures," he grinned.

"So I've heard," she mumbled before capturing his lips. She cradled his face and gasped into his mouth when one of his fingers dipped inside of her. "Jackson," she squeaked.

He smiled cockily and ran his other hand through her hair. "And I do find it hot when you tell me what to do. When you boss residents around in the pit it kinda gets me hard."

She laughed and couldn't stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks. "I…uh…I don't even know what to say to that," she stuttered.

"That's okay," he told her with a grin.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed him lovingly, and passionately, and with every ounce of energy that she had. His fingers were sending amazing sensations through her body but she was unable to concentrate on them because she kept hearing things and she could have sworn that she had seen a light from somewhere.

"Did you hear that?" She whispered into Jackson's ear.

"Probably the wind," he answered dismissively. "Relax babe, we're in the woods."

She tried to do as she was told. She kissed down his neck and arched her back when he squeezed her breast. However, she stilled when she heard another noise.

"That was not the wind," she protested.

"April—"

He was interrupted by a rap on the driver's window and April shrieked before grabbing his shirt from the passenger seat and using it to cover herself up. Her first instinct had been to dive into the backseat but Jackson's hands had grasped her hips in reflex.

Jackson rolled the window down and met the grinning faces of Shepherd and Sloan.

"Avery," Shepherd greeted with a nod.

"Kepner," Sloan added mischievously.

April mustered an awkward smile before she squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to become invisible.

"Uh…can we have a minute?" Jackson finally managed to ask.

Shepherd and Sloan both nodded and took a step back from the car but they were still grinning uncontrollably.

When the window was up once again, he slowly ran a hand through his fiancée's hair and kissed her on the cheek. He knew that she had to be deathly embarrassed. "It's okay," he whispered.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." She repeated the phrase over and over again before she climbed off of Jackson and moved into the backseat so that she could redress. Jackson passed her clothes to her and she avoided eye contact with him.

Jackson sighed as he fixed his jeans and pulled on his shirt. He took a deep breath before he got out of the car and faced two of the most amazing surgeons that he had ever met, who were currently acting like teenage boys.

"Mark told me that you were showing April the house tonight," Shepherd began. "So we figured we'd swing by and see if you came to a decision."

"I think they're still discussing it," Sloan stated with a devilish smile.

Jackson rolled his eyes and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Actually, we've decided that we want to buy it."

"Excellent," Shepherd smiled. "You guys can come by the house tomorrow and we'll work out the details."

"Sounds good," Jackson nodded.

Shepherd coughed to cover up a laugh as he scratched his chin. "I'd shake your hand but…"

"Really?" Jackson grimaced.

Sloan chuckled, "I always thought she was so innocent. She is just full of surprises."

"I'm gonna leave now," Jackson announced as the two older men continued to snicker. "See ya tomorrow." He got back in the car and found April seating in the passenger seat fully clothed.

They drove home but the ride was very quiet. They entered their empty apartment and April finally spoke.

"Two of the most respected surgeons in the country just saw me in my underwear!"

"You look good in your underwear," he offered.

"Jackson!" She yelled in frustration as she headed towards her bedroom and he followed her. "We were…they saw us…"

"Yeah," he nodded in confirmation. They had been grinding and groping, and she had been close to getting off. "Yeah, they saw us."

April removed her jacket before flopping onto her bed. "So embarrassing," she mumbled.

Jackson sighed before he lay down on his side next to her. He tenderly pushed her hair away from her face. "They're going to tease me, not you," he told her honestly. "It's not a big deal."

She exhaled noisily before turning her neck so that she could look up at him. She couldn't help but laugh a little at the way he was staring at her. "Stop that."

"What am I doing?" He asked in confusion. He glanced down at her side where his hand was joined with hers. "Do you want me to stop holding your hand?"

"No," she laughed. "You're trying to seduce me with your eyes." He had the nicest eyes that she had ever seen on a man, they were partially blue and partially green, and he knew exactly how to use his eyes to get his way. Like Sloan had once said, they were practically hypnotic.

"What if I am," he replied playfully. "Is it working?"

She brought both of her hands up to his face so that her fingers could trace his jaw. "Maybe a little," she admitted. "You're too pretty."

"It's a blessing and a curse," he joked dryly. He leaned down to kiss her softly and she melted into him. He kissed her until they both needed to pull away for a breath. "Do you wanna, maybe, pick up where we left off? I still haven't made up for blindfolding you."

He loved sex as much as every red-blooded guy but he knew that he was a tad sex crazed when it came to her. If someone had told him years ago that he would spend the end of his residency hoping that April Kepner would let him in her bed, and her pants, he probably would have laughed in their face. But she was funny, and smart, and gorgeous, and he was now unable to see her as anything but the sexiest woman that he had ever dated. He loved her so much and he wanted to physically express that as frequently as she would let him. She turned him on like no one else ever had and he took a lot of satisfaction from the fact that he sent her into a frenzy of arousal.

"Yeah, I do," she breathed before she impatiently began to unbutton his shirt.

He shifted so that he was hovering above her with his hands placed on either side of her head and he teasingly pushed his erection into her center. She gasped and reflexively dug her short nails into his chest. Her mouth looked so sexy when she did that. He grinned smugly and repeated the action before capturing her bottom lip between his.

"We're buying a house," she stated randomly against his lips. "And we're getting married, and we're attendings. When did all these grown up things happen?" She asked with a giggle.

He smiled at her fondly. "I have no idea but it's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it is," she agreed happily.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review! :)**


	20. I'm So Happy with You

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for your patience, and my exams went great, thanks for the good luck wishes. This is just a short chapter that ties up some loose ends but I still hope that you enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's, Jackson would not be interested in intern Stephanie. That is all.**

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**Chapter 20 – I'm So Happy with You**

Jackson and April happily walked into the hospital hand in hand. They had just come from having breakfast with Meredith and Derek, and now the big house in the woods was officially theirs. All of the papers were signed, they just had to move in…and tell Alex.

April chewed on her bottom lip as she accepted the cup of coffee that Jackson had just bought for her from the coffee cart.

"What are you thinking about?" Jackson asked with a chortle. He slung his arm around her shoulders as he guided her down the hall towards the attendings' locker room.

"Just that we haven't told Alex yet…that we're moving out," she spoke tentatively.

"Oh right." Their roommate had been so absent lately that Jackson had forgotten about him. "Well, let me take care of him."

"Thank you," she smiled brightly.

They reached the locker room and after changing into their scrubs, April grabbed her lab coat and asked excitedly, "So when are we moving?"

"Whenever you want." He stepped towards her and leaned down to kiss her softly. They had packed a few boxes last night so they actually didn't have that much left to do at their apartment; it was just a matter of transporting their things to their new house and unpacking them. "What about tomorrow? I want to be alone with you in _our_ house as soon as possible."

"Sounds great." She smiled before she kissed him again. She fisted her hands in his scrub top and pulled him closer to her. She found him irresistible when he talked like that. She nipped at his bottom lip and giggled as he tickled the back of her neck with his slender fingers.

"Get a room," Alex quipped as he spotted the two of them mauling each other in front of Kepner's locker.

Jackson chuckled as he pulled his mouth away from hers, but he kept his arms around her. Alex's comments had never bothered him. "Mornin' Karev."

April gave her fiancé a pointed look before she kissed him goodbye and said, "Have a nice day."

"So," Jackson began once April had left the room. "I dunno if you've heard, ya know how word travels around here, but April and I are officially moving out of the apartment."

"You bought the dream house from Shepherd?" Alex asked with a grin.

"Yeah," Jackson chuckled. "We did."

"Congrats man."

"Thanks." Jackson scratched the back of his head awkwardly before he continued. "So are you gonna keep staying at the apartment or…? We can probably still pay rent for a couple months if you need us to."

"I'll be fine," Alex answered casually. "I'm sure I can find a place to crash."

Jackson wondered if he would be crashing at his mystery woman's residence but he decided not to inquire. "You can stay at the house if you need to," he offered.

Alex snickered, "I'm done living with you two. I can't listen to Kepner's screams anymore. It's a good thing you're gonna live in the middle of nowhere, you were about to be written up for domestic disturbance."

"Shut it Karev," he chuckled. Jackson light-heartedly punched his friend in the shoulder before he left the locker room for rounds.

* * *

Jackson stepped into the elevator and grinned at its lone occupant. "Dr. Coles! I was just looking for you. You're on my service today."

"I am," he replied in confusion. "I thought I was on Dr. Kepner's service?"

"Well I requested you for the day. I noticed that you haven't done a plastics rotation yet."

"Okay, sounds fun," Coles answered in a very chipper tone.

Jackson raised a hand and patted the scrawny intern on the back. At least he was enthusiastic; it was more than he got from some of the other interns. "Excellent."

The elevator stopped on the fifth floor and Jackson led the young doctor towards the Burn Center. He handed Coles a large pile of charts and smiled a little devilishly. "Have fun and be thorough."

Two hours later, Coles had checked on all of the Burn Center patients, updated their charts, and administered proper doses of medication. He found Dr. Avery at the nurses' station and cautiously approached his attending. He wasn't as scary as Yang, Grey, or Karev but he was still intimidating. "Dr. Avery? I checked on all of the patients."

"Good," Jackson answered as his eyes stayed focused on the chart in front of him.

"Anything else, sir?"

"Do you have a crush on Dr. Kepner, Coles?" He asked nonchalantly. He already knew the answer to his question but he felt that they needed to have this conversation.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" Coles asked with an audible tremor in his voice.

Jackson laid his pen down and turned to Coles with a hand on his hip. "You have the hots for my girl," he stated matter-of-factly.

Coles avoided the plastic surgeon's stare as he responded. "Uh…I don't…I-I, um, she talks to me about medicine, and you…uh. It's a mentor thing. Dr. Kepner is a good teacher," he muttered quietly. "I like being on her service."

Jackson almost laughed out loud as he observed Coles' demeanour. He looked utterly petrified, he was practically shaking. He had been right all along, this kid was harmless. He wasn't some confident surgical resident who was looking to swoop in and sweep April off her feet; he had a school boy's crush. He felt that practically every intern harboured a crush on one of their attendings. It was like a rite of passage. He remembered his intern crush: Mercy West cardio attending Dr. Melissa Rogers. "Relax," he finally said. "I'm not gonna get you fired or beat you up," he chuckled, "or even put you on scut. I'm doing a nerve graft this afternoon, wanna scrub in?"

Coles' eyes widened in surprise and he looked around as if a practical joke was being played on him. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But you have to do one thing for me."

"Anything, sir," Coles answered eagerly.

"Stop looking at my fiancé's ass."

Coles turned scarlet and bashfully looked down at his shoes. "Yes, sir," he murmured.

* * *

Jackson was completely caught off guard when he was pulled into an on-call room by a set of small, but very insistent and talented, hands. He chuckled huskily as April pushed him against the closed door and plastered her body to his.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He asked with a grin.

"You stole my intern today," she began as she untied the drawstrings of his scrub pants. "And let him scrub in on a really cool surgery."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as she kissed his neck. "Are you mad at me or what? I'm getting mixed signals here."

"No, I'm not mad at you," she laughed. "As a matter of fact, I'm so happy with you." She pulled her top over her head and tugged him back towards the bed with her.

He lay on top of her after discarding his own scrub top and he tangled his hands in her hair as he returned her passionate kisses. However, he was still very confused. He broke a kiss and pushed himself upwards so that he was hovering above her. "Wait. I still don't understand."

"Understand what?" She asked through giggles.

"Why you're rewarding me with sex at work?"

She smiled as she ran her hands over his jaw, down his neck, and continued down to his chest. "Because a few months ago you would have made Coles' life a living hell and instead you let him scrub in with you today." She had felt so proud when she had seen Coles' name on Jackson's nerve graft on the surgical board. She felt that not only had he matured but their relationship had matured as well. She loved that his jealous streak was cooling down. She wrapped her arms around his back and impatiently pulled him down to her. "I love you," she declared against his lips.

"I love you too," he replied. "And apparently I need to be nice to more guys who are into you."

She laughed but then told him seriously, "That doesn't mean that I'm going to be nice to girls that like you." The thought of being nice to that group of gossiping, lustful interns actually made her uncomfortable.

"You're always nice," he teased.

She slipped her hand into his boxers and grasped his length. "Not true," she stated with a wicked grin.

His breath hitched and he buried his face in her hair. She was teasing him with her fingers and it was the most exquisite torture. "I was wrong, you are mean. Very _very_ mean." She started to laugh but he cut her off with a kiss.

* * *

April was just finishing the rest of her charts at the main nurses' station and getting ready to head home for the night when Brooks approached her with a very alarmed facial expression. "What's wrong? Incoming trauma?"

He quickly shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Can I talk to you privately?" He asked quietly.

"Sure." She closed her chart and followed Brooks into the nearby conference room. "What is it?"

Brooks shuffled his feet nervously and ran a hand through his hair. "Something has been bothering me recently. Since I moved out of your apartment, I've been sort of re-evaluating my personal life," he explained. He had moved into his place, a nice, single bedroom apartment. He had cut back on his drinking. He was focusing on his work and he was trying to stop having meaningless, noncommittal sex. He wanted a serious relationship. "And Avery and I are cool, we're pretty much back to normal now, but I realized that I never apologized to you."

"You don't have to apologize to me," she replied instantly.

"Yes, I do," he protested. "I came to Seattle thinking that Avery and I were gonna be the same duo that we were in college and I didn't really see that he had really grown up and that he cares about you in a way that I've never seen before. And I had a lot of preconceived ideas about you, so I'm sorry. I wasn't very fair to you or to your relationship with my oldest friend. I'm sorry," he said again.

She smiled softly, "Apology accepted." Brooks was a womanizer, and a little brash, but he wasn't a bad guy, a little wounded but not bad. He was kind of like a rich version of Alex. Apparently he was trying to change, and she knew that he meant a lot to Jackson, he was going to be in their wedding, so it was easy for her to sincerely accept his apology.

"You really don't have to forgive me if you don't want to," he chuckled. "I was pretty awful ya know." She didn't even know half of the idiotic things that he had said and the ideas that he had tried to plant in Avery's head. He had essentially tried to sabotage their relationship and the more that he watched them together, the guiltier he felt. He wanted what they had.

"It's okay," she laughed. "I forgive you." She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before she added, "But if you really want to make it up to me, you can help Jackson and I move tomorrow."

He smiled as he placed his hands in his pockets. "I would love to."

"Perfect," she nodded.

As they left the conference room together, Brooks asked conspiratorially, "Do you think you can give me some advice on women?"

April laughed boisterously, "Yes, I can do that."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review! :)**


	21. Stand Up

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 21 – Stand Up**

Elizabeth Avery spotted her brother working at the nurses' station and approached him with a pleasant smile. "Good morning Jackson."

"Morning," he mumbled in response.

Elizabeth sighed as she grabbed the chart that she was looking for. The two Avery siblings still weren't on the best of terms. He had chosen between her and his fiancé and it was more than apparent that April Kepner meant the world to her little brother. "Hey," she began timidly. "Why don't you and April come over for dinner tonight?"

"We can't," he answered without looking up at her. "We're busy."

"With what?" She asked in frustration.

Jackson flipped his chart closed and tucked it under his arm. "We're moving."

"You're moving?" She repeated in astonishment.

"Yup," he nodded. "We just bought a house."

The cardio surgeon's eyes widened and she mentally winced. "You bought a house and you didn't tell me?" She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. Their relationship was even more damaged than she had imagined. "I know that we've never exactly been Donnie and Marie but I thought that things would be different now. I mean, we're older and we live in the same city, we work in the same hospital for God's sake. And I really like it here. I really like my life here," she told him with a smile. "I'm even seeing someone."

"Good for you," he replied genuinely. He was happy that she had found somebody that she liked enough to seriously date but it didn't change how she had harshly judged April.

He turned to leave but she grabbed him by the elbow. "Jackson," she sighed heavily. "Come on, can we start over?"

"Liz, I don't know what you expect from me," he sighed as he spun around to face her. "You've been nothing but harsh, close-minded, and nosy since you got here."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm sorry for the things I said…about April. I'm working with her today," she smiled.

Jackson merely nodded. "I'll see you later; I've got a patient to get to."

Elizabeth sighed heavily as she watched her brother retreat down the hall.

* * *

"Today is really the day, Dr. Kepner?"

April smiled broadly at Maureen, her patient. "Yes, today is really the day."

April had operated on Maureen Collins almost a month ago. Three months ago, the fifty-four year old woman had come to Seattle Grace for a routine physical for her new job and had discovered that she suffered from severe cirrhosis of the liver _and_ a leaky heart valve. Luckily, she had received a new organ fairly quickly and April had performed the procedure. She did not reject her new liver but her body had not recovered well enough to undergo another surgery, until now. Maureen was finally strong enough to have her heart surgery and April was scrubbing in at her request.

"And this is a fairly routine procedure, right?" Her son, Charlie, asked worriedly.

"It is," April smiled and jested, "Much more routine than a liver transplant, and Dr. Avery is very good."

Maureen smiled knowingly. "Is that your future husband?"

"No," April chuckled as blush spread across her cheeks. "He is a plastic surgeon. Your doctor is his sister," she clarified.

"Oh, an in-law," Maureen joked.

April laughed until Elizabeth Avery breezed into the room. She spoke rapidly and barely even glanced at her patient.

"Good morning Mrs. Collins, I'm Dr. Avery; I will be doing your mitral valve repair. It is a relatively short and easy procedure; I've done hundreds of them. I will see you in surgery, and if you have any questions I'm sure that Dr. Kepner can answer them for you."

As she left the room, April caught Maureen's uncomfortable facial expression and her son's equally perturbed reaction. "Excuse me," she said quietly before she followed Elizabeth Avery out of the room.

"Dr. Avery," April called out as she chased the brunette down the hall.

"Yes Dr. Kepner?" Elizabeth sighed as she spun around to face the trauma fellow.

"I'm happy to answer any questions but you're the cardio surgeon, not me," she stated bluntly. She was angry and she couldn't help it. She hated when doctors didn't treat patients like people. It was her biggest pet peeve. Elizabeth challengingly arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and it made April even madder. "Maureen, that's the name of our patient by the way," she added sassily, "has been in this hospital for three months and this surgery means that she can leave and finally get her life back. She's waited three months, the least that you can do is spend a few minutes answering her questions."

Elizabeth just stared at her in shock and April exhaled heavily before she simply walked away.

She headed to the research library, where she knew Jackson would be working on patient criteria for his clinical trial. She found him amongst the book stacks and grabbed his hand. She led him to the most isolated corner of the library and the one farthest away from the librarian.

Although puzzled, Jackson followed his fiancé willingly. However, when she turned around to face him and he saw the uneasy look on her face, he was instantly concerned. He gently placed both of his hands on her shoulders as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I-I uh," she stuttered. Jackson soothingly rubbed her shoulders and she took a deep breath. "I just told off your sister," she whispered in a panic. She had gotten caught up in the moment and now she couldn't believe that she had snapped at the Head of Cardio about a cardio surgery! She was an attending now but she could still be reprimanded.

Jackson cleared his throat to hide a chuckle but he couldn't help the grin that erupted on his face. "You what?"

"We have a patient and she just…she wasn't very considerate of the patient's needs and I told her about it," she explained.

Jackson knew how important proper patient care and bedside manner was to April and he found it impossibly endearing, and he also knew that the patient wasn't always the top priority to his sister. She could be a little cold at times, a little robotic. His sister also thought that April was passive and weak. Well, his fiancé had showed her. "You stood up to _the_ Elizabeth Avery?"

Jackson took a step forward which caused April to move backwards until her back hit the bookshelf behind her. He rested his hand on a shelf above her head and looked down at her with a smile.

"I did," she admitted with a small nod.

"Just when I think you can't get any hotter," he smirked. He dipped his head and gently captured her lips as he placed the hand that wasn't propping himself up on her jaw. It really turned him on when April showed her assertive side. She slipped her hands inside of his lab coat and rested them on his hips. He could feel her melting into him as he continued to kiss her languidly.

"What if she goes to Chief Hunt?" She asked in between kisses.

"She won't," he assured her. His sister wasn't about to do anything else to piss him off and she didn't have a case. "You did the right thing."

April let out a low moan as he kissed her again. "Yeah? And you're not just saying that because you don't get along with your sister and I let you do stuff like this?"

He chuckled, "No, I'm not just saying it. You stood up for your patient."

"Um okay," she conceded without further argument.

A throat clearing interrupted their impromptu make out session. April turned her head to see one of _those _interns, she was pretty sure her name was Kelly Mathers, awkwardly standing with a few files in her hands. April couldn't help but feel a little pleased that she had caught them in an intimate situation. She knew what Mathers and her friends thought of her relationship with Jackson.

"I found those articles you wanted Dr. Avery," she stated uncomfortably.

"Great," he answered simply. He created a little space between him and April and took a deep breath in the hope of it quelling his arousal. But April seductively grinning at him was not helping his self-control. "I need you to find another article for me. It's from a couple years ago, written by a surgeon from Baylor. It's about silicone vs. saline implants following breast cancer." The intern nodded in understanding so he continued, "I will be back a little later, Dr. Kepner is going to help me with some research."

Once the intern had left them alone, April looked up at Jackson with a raised eyebrow. "I'm helping you with research?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "you're going to help me do some hands-on breast health research."

She smacked his arm and scolded him, "Jackson."

He laughed as he threaded his fingers through hers. "Come on, let's go get some lunch, and then maybe you'll let me feel you up," he whispered.

"Maybe," she answered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Well that's not a no," he grinned triumphantly.

* * *

April's surgery with Elizabeth Avery was eerily quiet. There was no small talk, just instructions to the scrub nurses and discussion about the procedure itself. April had just accepted that Jackson's sister would probably never talk to her again when she spoke.

"Jackson told me you were different," she stated.

April opened her mouth to respond but she wasn't exactly sure what to say. How was she different? Different from what?

Luckily for her, Elizabeth continued with a purpose.

"To be honest, I didn't understand what he saw in you."

April tried to disguise her wince at the insult. "Thanks," she muttered.

Elizabeth raised her head and met the younger woman's gaze across the operating table. "Until today. It was nice to see your backbone. You weren't afraid to stand up to me because it was in the best interest of the patient. I like people who aren't afraid to speak their minds. I respect it." She had thought that the red-headed trauma surgeon didn't have what it takes to be an Avery, but perhaps she was wrong.

April's hands stilled. This wasn't exactly the reaction that she had pictured but she was more than pleased with it. "Thank you Dr. Avery."

"You are welcome," she replied and April could tell that she was smiling behind her surgical mask. But she shifted back into work mode very quickly. "Let's see if this stitch holds."

* * *

Jackson strolled into the large living room with a smug grin. "Most of the heavy lifting is done," he declared.

April smiled as she finished looking through a box of books. Brooks and Alex had helped them move and they were right; between her and Jackson they owned _a lot_ of medical textbooks.

"Thank you," she said as she stepped up to him and placed her hands on his waist.

At some point during their move he had discarded his t-shirt, which she was perfectly okay with. His flawless body still left her speechless from time to time.

Her fingers danced along the edge of his sweatpants and he squirmed. "Watch those hands little lady," he laughed. She giggled as she stood on the tips of her toes to give him a soft kiss. They still had a lot left to do but he could think of a few things that he would rather be doing. He had been thinking about them since the research library. "Wanna christen this place?" He murmured.

"What?" She asked with a very confused facial expression.

"Ya know," he grinned brazenly. He used one hand to massage the back of her neck while the other trailed along her side.

He leaned down to kiss her and she eagerly responded. "Are you saying that you should be rewarded for all the heavy lifting?" She asked as she twisted her arms around his neck.

He effortlessly lifted her into his arms and she moaned as he continued his passionate kisses. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," he replied. "You should show me that bikini you bought the other day." She had gone wardrobe shopping for their honeymoon and he knew that she was hiding it somewhere.

"It's a surprise," she laughed.

He groaned as he nipped at her neck and slowly began to carry her down the hallway towards their new bedroom. "I wanna try something," he whispered.

"What?" She responded cautiously.

He just grinned up at her before continuing to place kisses down her neck. He finally reached the bedroom and gently deposited her on the bed. They didn't even have sheets on it yet, it was just a bare mattress. He used his forearms to hold himself above her as they kissed.

Eventually, April pulled her mouth away from his and looked up at him suspiciously. "Tell me what you're thinking about."

He chuckled as he slowly pulled her t-shirt over her head. "How do you feel about honey?"

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "I like honey in my tea." Her eyes widened in realization when he smiled mischievously. "Oh! Oh!"

He laughed as he placed kisses down her neck and chest. "You are so cute."

"I don't know," she replied after a moment's pause. "Wouldn't it be really sticky?" She scrunched up her nose at the thought.

"That's what showers are for," he whispered.

He had just started to rid her of her jeans when their doorbell rang.

April sat up and muttered in confusion, "That's weird."

Jackson nodded in agreement. Karev and Brooks had just left an hour ago and he wasn't sure who else would make the trek out to their new home on their move-in day. He caught April's hands as she reached forward with the intention of clasping the button on her jeans. "You stay here." He kissed her before he hopped off of the bed. "It could just be Shepherd or something."

He pulled on the dirty t-shirt that he had taken off earlier before he headed to the front door.

He was incredibly startled by who he found waiting on the deck. "Liz?" He questioned in surprise as he opened the screen door. "What are you doing here?"

His older sister smiled awkwardly. "Well since you couldn't come over to dinner because you're moving, I figured that I would bring dinner to you."

"Oh," he replied as he glanced down at the bags in her hands. "Um, well come in, I guess."

Jackson stepped aside to allow Elizabeth entrance and she rambled as she walked into the house. "I picked up a few of your favourites cuz I wasn't sure what April likes, so there are options. I got tacos, burgers from this great place around the corner from my apartment, and Chinese. This house is really beautiful," she spoke in awe as she looked around.

"Thanks." He couldn't help but smile a little to himself. He had never seen his perfect sister appear so nervous and uncomfortable. She was always poised and prepared. She was serious about making a genuine effort to be a part of his life and April had told him all about their conversation in the OR. After today he was definitely more susceptible to the idea of mending his relationship with his sister.

The two Averys stood in silence until April appeared, fully redressed and more than a little flustered. "Hi Elizabeth," she stammered.

The brunette smiled brightly, "Hi April, are you hungry?"

"Um, yes actually, the kitchen isn't really unpacked yet though."

"That's fine; I brought Styrofoam plates and cups too."

"Well I'm starving," Jackson declared.

He wanted nothing more than to have a drama-free family and a mutual understanding between him, April, and Liz was a good first step.

"My brother loves the greasiest, most unhealthy foods," Elizabeth said with a laugh, "but I wasn't sure what you liked."

"Anything really," April answered with a smile.

They sat at the kitchen table and Elizabeth unpacked the food, beer, and Styrofoam and plastic dinnerware that she had brought. Jackson grabbed a bottle of beer and went for the burgers and fries while April picked tacos. Jackson couldn't help but observe his sister out of the corner of his eye as she started to eat her sweet and sour pork. She seemed very at ease now and happy; he wasn't used to seeing her this way. He felt like he needed to thank whoever this guy was that she was seeing.

"Mom is gonna love this house," Elizabeth began conversationally.

Jackson chuckled, "Yeah, I know."

"I already sent her some pictures over Facebook," April chimed in.

"Of course you did," Jackson laughed as he squeezed her knee beneath the table.

"No wonder she loves you," Elizabeth smiled. "All of Jackson's other girlfriends were terrified of her."

"The Averys _are_ terrifying," Jackson declared with a playful grin.

"We can't be that bad," Elizabeth replied as she winked at April.

"No," the red-head smiled. "I think you guys are great."

* * *

April smiled uncontrollably as she walked into her and Jackson's bedroom. She was so happy, and it wasn't just because they had sheets on their bed now or because they could leave open their bedroom door and wouldn't have to worry about a lack of privacy. She was happy because Jackson and his sister had finally made peace and as a result, she had spent the evening getting to know Elizabeth Avery. After dinner, Elizabeth had stayed to talk and she had only left an hour ago.

"That was so great," she gushed. "I'm so glad that your sister came over. I love seeing you guys get along."

It was no secret that family was important to her and Elizabeth Avery was soon going to become a part of her family.

She removed her robe and turned towards the bed to find Jackson fast asleep. He must have been exhausted from all of the moving; even the prospect of sex hadn't been able to keep him up. She leaned down and softly kissed his cheek before she left the room again.

Spending time with Jackson's sister, as pleasant as it was, had caused one thought to be at the forefront of her mind: their father. Elizabeth didn't talk about him either. Carson Avery was a taboo subject for both Averys. April couldn't even imagine not being close to her father so it was a situation that she wanted to resolve for Jackson. She loved him and she knew that he missed his Dad, even if he acted like he didn't care. And she had made a promise to herself that she would get the man to their wedding.

She walked into the living room as she turned on her cell phone and dialled the number that Catherine Avery had given her.

"_Hello."_

"Hi Dr. Avery," she began nervously. "My name is April Kepner, I'm Jackson's fiancé."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review! :)**


	22. Trauma Surgery

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I am not a medical expert so keep that in mind. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 22 – Trauma Surgery**

April tossed her head back in ecstasy and dug her nails into Jackson's shoulders. He trailed sloppy kisses down her throat as he rhythmically thrust inside of her.

It was almost two o'clock in the morning but when she had returned from the hospital he just hadn't been able to wait any longer. He had started to rid her of her clothes as soon as she had climbed into bed. Their schedules hadn't been very conducive to spending a lot of time together recently, she had been working very long hours in the ER and he was busy with his trial, and the time that they did spend together was spent moving into their new home. There were still boxes scattered everywhere but they were making progress. Slowly but surely.

This was the first time that they had gotten the opportunity to make love in their new bed.

Jackson groaned as April began to tighten around him. He adjusted the angle of his hips and kissed her hungrily on the mouth. "When you come, I want you to scream…loudly," he whispered. They lived alone now, in the middle of nowhere, he wanted her to really let go.

She chuckled breathlessly and challenged, "Make me."

He laughed at her boldness. She would have never said something like that a few months ago. "I'll see what I can do," he smirked.

She wrapped her arms around his back and placed her mouth against his ear. She gasped as she felt a shiver race through her body. She was so close.

The sound of her pager reverberated throughout the master bedroom and she squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. "No, no, no, no!" She cried. She had just gotten home! And she was kind of in the middle of something…

Her fiancé looked at her regretfully as he slowly pulled out of her.

She grabbed her pager off of the bedside table and sighed. "Crap, its 911!"

Jackson had just enough time to take a deep breath and collect himself before his own pager went off.

They both quickly got ready and rushed to his car. They didn't live as close to the hospital as they used to.

When they arrived at Seattle Grace Mercy West, they changed into their scrubs and ran to the pit.

"What do we have?" April asked quickly as she pulled on her trauma gown. Despite her sexual frustration, she efficiently slipped back into her role as a trauma attending.

The nurse behind the ER desk answered her question. "Gang standoff, two gangs open fired on each other downtown. I already called the blood bank. Right now, eleven ambulances are on their way. The first one is a minute out but according to what the paramedics were saying on the phone, they'll be lucky if they make it here."

April headed outside to meet the ambulance and she beckoned a resident to follow her.

The first ambulance skidded to a stop in front of them and the paramedics quickly pulled out the patient on a stretcher. April listened intently as the paramedics updated her as rapidly as they could. She swore under her breath as she looked over the bloody young man. He couldn't be more than eighteen.

"We're running," she stated as they started to push the stretcher into the hospital. He was losing way too much blood and way too quickly. She wasn't even going to bother to stop in a trauma room. There was no time. If they had any hope of saving this…kid…then they needed to go straight to the OR. They were almost through the pit when she made a desperate decision. She hopped up onto the stretcher in an attempt to slow down the blood loss. The residents accompanying her seemed startled but to their credit they didn't slow down on their way to the OR.

* * *

Jackson walked into the OR 2 gallery and took a seat between Karev and Sloan. This was the last patient on the table from the gang fight and almost everyone was watching April and Meredith operate. Brooks and Bailey were sitting on the other side of Karev, Yang and his sister were sitting behind him next to Torres, and Hunt, Shepherd, and Webber were standing.

"How long have they been in there now?" Jackson asked curiously. He had lost track of time during his own surgeries.

"Over ten hours," Hunt answered.

Jackson grimaced as he looked at his watch. That meant that April hadn't eaten in over eighteen hours, he hoped that she was at least staying hydrated.

Sloan tilted his head and whispered, "She's removed the spleen, a kidney, a portion of the liver, and a lobe of the right lung. Your girlfriend is gonna be a legend if she pulls this off."

Elizabeth Avery leaned forward and spoke in her brother's ear. "I'm beyond impressed."

Jackson couldn't help but smile to himself. April never got enough credit for how good she was. It was about time.

They all heard the monitors beep like crazy as the patient's heartbeat and blood pressure plummeted.

"He's bleeding out," Brooks stated.

"They got this," Cristina said quickly. "Mer and April, they got this."

They had all heard the cardio surgeon support Meredith Grey for years but no one had ever heard Cristina Yang sound so confident in April Kepner's abilities.

Everything turned quiet once again and Meredith raised her head to nod towards the gallery. The patient was stable and they were getting ready to close.

Jackson let out a sigh of relief, along with everyone else, before rising to his feet.

* * *

April was scrubbing out but she was shaking with excitement. That was probably the most exciting surgery of her career to date, and she had scrubbed in on a penis transplant, a double arm transplant, and the largest chordoma that she had ever seen. She supposed that this was different because it was her speciality and she had been the lead surgeon. Her patient had been shot seventeen times. Eight clear entry and exit wounds. Nine bullets lodged in the body. The patient had lost almost half of his blood volume before they had gotten him into the OR. Now, they were moving him to the ICU to recover. They had removed numerous organs, it had taken over ten hours, but he was alive. He shouldn't have survived; the odds had been incredibly high that he would die on the table. But somehow, he had survived. It was absolutely incredible.

The high that she was feeling was better than sex. Maybe.

"That was so unreal!" She prattled hysterically. "I mean, that was incredible!"

"Yeah," Meredith laughed in agreement. "It really was. I've never seen anything like that."

"People don't survive that sort of thing every day," April added.

None of them, except maybe Hunt, had ever seen a gunshot victim like that.

"He shouldn't have even made it on the table," Meredith stated in awe.

The two women left the scrub room, still on a surgery high, and were greeted by the men in their lives.

April grinned at Jackson as he pulled her aside. She could see the smirk playing at the edge of his mouth and his eyes were a sapphire blue, which meant that he was very excited.

"His brother is in the waiting room so I'm going to go talk to him."

"Okay," he nodded. "I'm going to get you something to eat."

She smiled at how considerate he was. "Thank you." She squeezed his arm before she turned to walk down the hallway.

After speaking to her patient's brother, she met Jackson in the locker room. He had already changed his clothes and was simply sitting on the bench waiting for her.

"You look so cute in your scrub cap," he grinned.

She laughed as she pulled her scrub cap off of her head and tossed it in her locker. "I'm just gonna change and then we can go home." She grabbed her clothes and kissed him on the top of the head before heading to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she emerged with a bright but tired smile. She threw her scrubs in the laundry and Jackson hopped to his feet. He threw an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the room.

When they got back to their new home, April inelegantly fell onto the couch in the living room and began to eat the lunch that he had gotten for her; a sandwich, a protein bar, and a Gatorade. There was so much sunlight streaming in through the windows that it was messing with her system. It had been so long since she had slept or eaten.

Jackson climbed behind her and began to massage her shoulders. "That feels so good," she moaned.

He chuckled as he worked his hands harder into her tense muscles. "You just operated for almost eleven hours, of course you're tense." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. If he had been desperate to take her to bed before, he was practically aching for it now. "You were so hot tonight."

"What?" She asked through a mouthful of food.

"In the OR," he explained, "and in the pit." When the paramedics had brought her patient into the ER he had been bleeding so profusely that April had jumped onto the stretcher in an effort to apply more pressure. "It was really hot when you used the weight of your body to try to stop the bleeding. I never thought the sight of you straddling another guy would be such a turn on."

She flushed and laughed to herself. "I don't know if I would call it—"

"You took nine bullets out of a guy," he interrupted.

"Me and Meredith," she argued.

Jackson smiled at her modesty and kissed her neck again. "You paged Meredith to remove his kidney while you kept the bleeding under control. It was really fucking sexy."

April finished her lunch and pivoted so that she could face Jackson. "You think so?" She asked with a smirk.

He leaned back on the sofa and she crawled over him. He palmed her waist with one hand while the other travelled over her behind. "Yeah, I do," he answered with a broad, boyish grin.

"Interesting," she murmured before she lightly kissed him on the lips. "So trauma surgery starts your engine, huh?" She asked jokingly.

"Big time," he answered honestly. Trauma surgery was hardcore and badass, and seeing April in that atmosphere was definitely exciting for him.

"Well, good thing I'm a trauma surgeon then." She lay down on top of him and engaged him in a heated kiss. She could feel how aroused he was beneath her and it made her whole body flush.

"A very good thing," he agreed against her lips. "Doesn't hurt that you're already gorgeous."

"Thank you," she whispered.

She still thanked him every time that he paid her a compliment and it bothered him. He would have to work on that.

After a moment he asked, "Does plastics turn you on?"

She chuckled, "Oh, like you wouldn't believe."

He squeezed her sides and she tried to wriggle away from him. "You're lying," he laughed.

She smiled but ignored him. He was fully aware that she had never been that interested in plastics. She grabbed one of his hands and began to kiss his palm. "Your plastic surgeon hands turn me on," she whispered huskily.

He smiled mischievously. "Well, that's nice to hear."

She placed both of her hands on his face and kissed him aggressively. "I don't know about you," she murmured. "But I think we need to finally have sex in this house."

He laughed as he slipped his hands underneath her shirt. "I agree completely."

She sat up and pulled her shirt over her head. "The bed is jinxed. Let's just do it here."

"No way," he protested. He locked his arms around her waist and carefully got to his feet, carrying her securely in his arms. "I'm taking you to bed."

"Fine," she responded. It was hard to deny him when he spoke like that. "But if we get interrupted, I'm blaming you."

* * *

Thankfully, they did not get interrupted this time and afterwards, Jackson cradled April in his arms as she slept. He ran his fingers up and down her naked back and closed his eyes. He was just about to doze off himself when April awoke with a start. She pushed her hair out of her face and clutched the thin bed sheet to her chest.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"If I sleep now I won't get to sleep tonight," she explained through a yawn.

She rolled onto her side, turning her back to him, and rested her head on her arm. He spooned her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "So I have to keep you up?" He inquired with a naughty grin that she couldn't see.

"Please."

"I think I can do that."

She squealed when he started to tickle her. She tried to squirm out of his grasp but it was futile, she had nowhere to go. "Jackson! Stop! Please!" She cried through giggles.

He laughed and his hands eventually stilled. She lay on her back and caught her breath as he looked down at her adoringly. Her cheeks and neck were flushed and she looked breathtakingly beautiful. He tenderly pushed a stray strand of hair off of her forehead before he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"What?" She asked amidst a small breathless laugh. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I always look at you like this," he retorted. Like he couldn't imagine being with anybody else.

"If you say so," she smiled. She raised both of her hands so that they could cradle his face and she pulled him down to her for a sweet kiss. "Can you run your fingers along my back again?" She asked girlishly. "That feels nice."

"Okay," he chuckled. He had never been able to say no to her and she may be ticklish but she loved having her back caressed.

He rolled back onto his side and April flopped over onto her stomach. She turned her head towards him and shot him a cheerful smile as he started to stroke her back with the tips of his fingers.

"You're the best," she told him with a contented sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he teased playfully.

They were both silent for a few minutes before he spoke again. "That surgery today was really amazing, you know." She thanked him quietly. "Like award-winning amazing." Sloan had even called it legendary.

"Thanks sweetheart," she smiled.

"But you can't win any awards," he continued in a gloomy tone, "because you're with me."

April opened her eyes, which had previously been closed in pleasure, and eyed Jackson's downtrodden expression. He was frowning and staring down at the bed sheets. "Hey," she called softly. "I would rather be with you than win a hundred awards."

"Really?" He asked insecurely. He knew that that aspect of the Avery name had always been a sore spot for his mother and he didn't want April to resent him further down the road for the same reason. She already wasn't recognized enough, he didn't want to make it worse.

"Of course," she replied passionately. "I didn't become a surgeon to win awards and I certainly never thought that I would be marrying a man as incredible as you." She scooted closer to him and kissed him firmly on the mouth. "I can live without ever winning a Harper Avery Award."

"You sure?" He inquired as she pushed him onto his back and straddled his waist. "Cuz that would kind of be a deal breaker."

"I'm sure," she nodded. "But you're going to have to be the world's best husband to make up for it," she teased.

"How do I go about that?" He asked as his hands trailed up her thighs. "Lots of back rubs?"

"Yes," she giggled. "And you're going to have to clean up a bit more and spend less time watching sports."

He grimaced. "You're a tough negotiator." He sat up and placed a kiss at the base of her neck. "As a compromise, how about I'll spend more time learning to cook different things and I'll be your sex slave?"

She tossed her head back and laughed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "That may work."

"Good," he grinned. He tangled his hands in her long hair and claimed her mouth. "I can start paying my debts now," he whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Merry Christmas! In the spirit of the season, leave a review! :)**


	23. Once In a Lifetime

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! I did some research for this chapter but once again, I am not a medical professional. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 23 – Once In a Lifetime**

April sat at her patient's bedside and waited for him to wake up. Thanks to his brother, she had learned that his name was Marcus Johnson and he was only seventeen. He had his whole life ahead of him but he was involved in a gang and had almost died because of it. The other night they had treated eleven patients and Marcus was one of the six that they had managed to save.

He was one of the lucky ones. God had given him a second chance.

Marcus Johnson was her miracle patient and she was going to try to help him in any way that she could, not just surgically.

His eyes slowly opened and he awoke with a groan. April quickly moved to the other side of the bed and upped the dose of morphine.

"You're going to be in a lot of pain for a while," she told him. She walked down to the foot of his bed and started to update his chart.

"Who are you?" The teenager asked in confusion. "Where am I?"

"You are at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital and I'm Dr. Kepner," she smiled. "I saved your life."

"What happened? It's all kind of a blur."

"Well," she began slowly. "You were shot seventeen times. You lost _a lot _of blood and we had to remove your spleen, your left kidney, a portion of your liver, and a lobe of your right lung."

"Holy shit," he exclaimed in awe.

She smiled softly. "The body has a wonderful way of adapting to change. You are very lucky to be alive."

"Um, is my brother here?" Marcus asked shyly.

"Yes, he is," she replied cheerfully. "I'll go get him."

She had just sent Marcus' brother to his room when she ran into Jackson. "He woke up," she told him excitedly.

"Your GSW patient?" He smiled.

"My _miracle_ patient," she clarified.

"Your miracle patient," he repeated with a laugh.

"Yeah," she responded perkily. She bounced on her toes and jumped to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Have a great day! I'll see you later!"

Jackson watched her skip away with a smile. It always made him happy to see her in such a good mood. He waited until she turned the corner before he left to meet Sloan down at CT. The two plastic surgeons had a consult with Shepherd and Brooks and he expected it to be an interesting case. It usually was when plastics and neuro got together.

Dr. Shepherd had only been back at work for a couple weeks but it was easy to tell that the whole hospital was in a better mood due to his presence. There was just something hopeful in the air when Derek Shepherd was around. It was great to be working with him again and him and Brooks were getting along spectacularly. Sloan fiercely maintained that the plastics posse was a better duo and Jackson just laughed at the older man.

"Avery, get in here," Sloan called with a grin.

Jackson stepped into the room and stared at the scan on the computer screen over Shepherd's shoulder. "Whoa," he stated in awe. He had never seen a tumor like that before.

"The patient has maxillary sinus cancer, a T4b category tumor," Shepherd informed him.

Sloan turned to Avery as he ran his hand along his chin. "The tumor has spread down into the nasopharynx and the back of the eye."

"It's also grown into the dura," Brooks added.

"Big tumor," Jackson understated.

"Smart tumor," Shepherd murmured.

* * *

Brooks spotted April at the nurses' station and sidled up to her with a smile. Ever since he had apologized, they had started to really get to know each other. He had a lot of embarrassing stories about Avery that she liked to hear. She was also nice to talk to and she wasn't judgemental. He was actually learning tonnes of things about women that he hadn't known before, it was eye opening. He had never had a female friend before and it was different, he liked it.

"Have you heard what Avery and I are working on today?"

The red-head arched an eyebrow in interest. "I have not." Brooks pulled one of their patient's CT scans out of the folder he was carrying and showed it to her with a grin. Her eyes widened as she took a hold of the scan so that she could examine it. "Wow, nasal cavity cancer is pretty rare."

The neuro fellow nodded in agreement. "This is the biggest nasal cavity tumor that Shepherd and Sloan have ever seen."

April smiled broadly, "Cool. What's your plan?"

"We're gonna go in through the side of the nose," he explained as he ran his index finger along the side of his own nose. "But we won't be sure until we get in there if we'll actually have to remove the entire nose and possibly the septum. Sloan and Avery are working on a plan to save the eye. It's going to be tricky."

"That is so cool," she gushed. "Man, I wish that I was still a resident so that I could scrub in."

"Hey, you just had your own once in a lifetime surgery," he laughed. "Seventeen gunshot wounds. Besides, I'm sure that you could just flirt with Avery and he'd let you in on it."

April chuckled, "That would be an abuse of our relationship."

Brooks grinned and leaned on the nurses' station counter. "Well then just flirt with me, that's fair. Give me your best shot Kepner."

"No," she laughed. She looked down at the chart she was working on to hide her reddened cheeks. She hated how the littlest thing still made her blush.

"Come on," he chuckled as he gently elbowed her side. "I'm curious to know how you lured Avery in. Did you bat the eyelashes or flash the dimples?" He asked humorously.

She raised her head and met his impish, yet intrigued, gaze. "If you must know, I kinda jumped him," she revealed.

He guffawed, "No way!" He could not picture timid April Kepner making the first move, and so aggressively. "Hot."

April opened her mouth to reprimand him but stopped when Alex approached the nurses' station with a rather sour look on his face.

"Am I interrupting something?" The peds surgeon asked suspiciously.

Brooks spun around to face the other man and smiled innocently. "No, I was just telling April about the sick surgery we're doing this afternoon."

* * *

April sat down next to Jackson at a cafeteria table and pecked him on the cheek. "I heard about the awesome surgery you're doing," she began excitedly.

"Jealous?" He teased.

"A little bit," she admitted. "But I'll probably watch from the gallery." She looked at him sideways with a playful smile. "Not as sexy as trauma surgery but it'll do."

Jackson laughed before shoving a few fries in his mouth. A part of him wanted to throw her over his shoulder in the middle of the cafeteria and carry her to an on-call room. She was feeling happy _and_ frisky today. "I dunno," he began seductively. "The surgical plan that Sloan and I have developed is pretty hot."

He and Sloan had developed a very detailed and intricate plan. Plastics was always about thought and precision but this was one of the most delicate cases that he had ever worked on. They were concerned about major nerves and blood vessels, and about how normal the patient's breathing would be after the surgery. And of course, once Shepherd and Brooks got the entire tumor, he and Sloan would be concerned about facial appearance.

April leaned towards him until their noses were almost touching. Her eyes sparkled naughtily and her mouth pulled into a grin. "Really?" She purred.

"Uh huh," he breathed. It really wasn't nice of her to look at him like that when he could do nothing about it.

Their little moment was broken up by a slightly panicked Meredith. "Do you think he's ready Jackson?"

"I'm sorry what?" The plastics fellow was a little distracted by his fiancé's mouth.

"Do you think Derek's ready for this surgery?" She rephrased.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Jackson answered confidently as he turned towards her. He could see where Meredith's concern was coming from, Shepherd had been performing relatively routine surgeries since he had returned and this procedure was definitely risky. Their patient had been turned down by numerous surgeons. But Shepherd was ready and he had a great team with him.

Meredith frowned before she pivoted on her heel and walked away.

"Where's Mer going?" Cristina asked as she sat at their table with her lunch.

"To talk to Shepherd I think," Jackson answered.

Karev and Brooks joined them as well and the latter immediately asked, "Kepner, where do women like you hang out?"

"They don't," Cristina answered quickly. "They work and stay at home."

Brooks' brow furrowed in confusion. "Then how do they meet guys?"

"They don't," Karev jibed. April glared at him and Cristina snickered. "What? It's true," he said defensively. "Besides, chicks like you put guys in the friend zone before they've even said hello."

"There's nothing wrong with being friends first," April stated in exasperation.

Jackson nodded in agreement as he placed a hand on the back of April's neck. "Worked for us."

"Yeah and it only took you five years to get together," Karev pointed out.

Jackson rolled his eyes while Brooks thoughtfully chewed on his sandwich. He was willing to be friends first but he didn't want to spend five years with a woman before he asked her out. He wasn't that patient, and now he was curious as to why it had taken Avery and Kepner five years to clue into their feelings for each other.

"What took you so long?" He probed.

The table fell silent and three sets of eyes turned to Jackson and April.

To be honest, Jackson wasn't sure what had taken him so long to realize his feelings for April. He supposed that he had been in denial, and their close friendship had been really important to him and he had been scared to ruin that. On the other hand, April had had a hard time believing that someone like Jackson would look at her romantically. She had been terrified of rejection and confused about her faith. But she didn't mind that she had waited five years for him because what they had was special…Once in a lifetime even.

"We weren't ready," they answered in unison.

April smiled at their identical thoughts and leaned in for a kiss.

Cristina screwed up her face at their display of affection. "You guys are disgusting."

April laughed but was interrupted by her pager. "Oh shoot! Good luck on your surgery guys! Hopefully I'll be able to see some of it." She grabbed her half-eaten lunch and dumped it in the trash before rushing out of the cafeteria.

Cristina left a little while after and Brooks departed so that he could check on their patient in pre-op. It left just Jackson and Alex at the table and Jackson couldn't help but notice that the other man was quieter than usual.

"What's up man?" Jackson inquired after a moment. Karev just shook his head so Jackson teased, "Lady problems?"

"I don't," he replied, "but you might."

Jackson's spine stiffened and he turned to his friend with narrowed eyes. "Excuse me?"

Alex sighed, he didn't really like to get involved in other people's business but Avery deserved to know. "I saw Brooks flirting with her earlier."

"No, you didn't," he stated firmly in disbelief.

"Yeah, pretty sure I did," the peds fellow argued.

Jackson's fists clenched and he angrily got up out of his seat. "I'm gonna kill Brooks," he muttered to himself.

* * *

"Can you get April to set me up with one of her friends?" Brooks asked as they scrubbed out. "I mean, I know that she doesn't know a lot of people outside the hospital but there's gotta be someone. She goes to church, right? She must know people from there."

Jackson ignored the man beside him and furiously scoured his arms. He had kept it together during their surgery. The procedure had been too detailed and dangerous for him not to be focused, but now that it was over and their patient was alive and being brought to post-up, he was allowing his rage and frustration to take over.

"Hey," Brooks called. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yup, I heard you," he replied curtly.

"So what do you think? You think April has any friends for me?"

Jackson turned off the water, dried his hands and arms, and angrily tossed the used towel in the hamper against the back wall of the scrub room. He huffed before he turned to his friend. "Just to be perfectly clear, you want a woman like April, right?"

"Yeah," Brooks answered slowly. He and Avery had already had this conversation. He wanted the opposite of the women that he had been involved with since college. He wanted smart, kind, a little shy, and unafraid to bruise his ego. He wanted a real woman. He was done with fake, blonde, fangirls.

"So, you want a woman _like_ April, you don't want April, right?"

Brooks' mouth opened in shock. "No! Jesus no! I've done enough to mess with you guys, I'm not trying to steal your girl." He could see that his best friend was still sceptical so he added, "I swear, man."

"Karev said you were flirting with her," Jackson sighed.

Brooks looked at him sheepishly and shrugged. "Yeah, I flirt with her, I mean, it's me, I flirt with everyone, it's like I can't turn it off, and it's fun. She's fun to rile up. But I'm not trying to seduce her or anything," he laughed.

"I would actually kill you," Jackson stated seriously.

"Do you want to hit me?" Brooks inquired. "Get it out of your system?" He stood up straight and held his hands out in front of him. "Go ahead, hit me."

Jackson chuckled and gently pushed him backwards with an open palm on his chest. "Knock it off." He loved that Brooks and April were becoming friends but he had seen Brooks seduce women and the last thing that he wanted was for Brooks to set his sights on April. That really scared him. When Karev had talked to him at lunch, he hadn't been experiencing jealously, it had been fear. However, he could tell that Brooks wasn't lying to him, and he was a flirt, that was true. "And just try not to flirt with her so much, okay?"

"Will do," Brooks smiled.

Jackson laughed and smacked his friend on the back of the head as they exited the scrub room. "And I'll see if April has any friends she'd be willing to sacrifice."

* * *

Jackson walked through the front door of their house and was immediately accosted by his fiancé. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. He laughed as he stumbled backwards and wrapped his arms securely around her waist so that neither was at risk of falling to the floor.

"I guess you missed me," he murmured. He had needed to stay at the hospital a little later than her tonight but he would gladly do it again if it meant that she would have this reaction. He wanted to be greeted like this every night.

"I did," she said before she kissed him. "I watched some of your surgery today, you were right, it was very sexy."

"Yeah?" He asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow as he slowly carried her into the living room.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Watching you reconstruct his nose and his eye socket was such a turn on."

"Don't talk like that," he warned with a sexy growl.

He dumped her onto the sofa and climbed on top of her. She giggled as he kissed down her neck. "Jackson, I made dinner!"

He hummed against her collarbone. "It smells good but it can wait."

She patted his shoulder as she said, "But just let me up so that I can turn off the stove."

"Okay," he replied as he reluctantly moved off of her. She jumped off of the couch and rushed into the kitchen.

Jackson lay back on the sofa and thrummed his fingers against his chest for a moment before he called out to her. "April?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you set up Brooks with someone you know? Someone not from the hospital?"

She appeared above him with a bright smile. "Yeah, I can do that," she answered excitedly. She leaned over the back of the couch and bit her bottom lip in contemplation. "Oh! I know just the person!"

Jackson stopped her from saying anything further by grabbing her and pulling her over the piece of furniture. She squealed and landed on top of him with a giggle. "Let's talk about it later," he suggested.

She agreed by cupping his face with her hands and placing her mouth against his.

* * *

**A/N: A reviewer asked me if I am working on a high school AU fic and the answer to that question is no. I am working on an AU fic but it has quite a different plot idea, and I would have to see the response I get to that one before deciding to take on another AU project. Although, I did get an idea for a college type fic the other day. Lol.**

**Anyways, please leave a review!**


	24. The Invitation

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing and Happy New Year! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 24 – The Invitation**

April stepped out onto the deck with her morning cup of coffee and smiled to herself. The large patio was easily her favourite thing about this house. She had always loved being outside and it was nice to be able to step outside in her robe and have a cup of coffee or read the morning paper while being surrounded by nature. The trees and the fresh air were beautiful and peaceful. Jackson was right; she could easily imagine raising children out here. She knew just where they would build the swing set.

She leaned against the patio railing and took the first sip from her mug. She sighed in satisfaction and her smile widened even further when she heard the door open behind her.

"Good morning," Jackson yawned as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she replied as she turned her head to peck him on the cheek.

Jackson rested his head on April's shoulder and tightened his body around hers. "Its kinda cold out here, babe."

She laughed to herself. "That's because you're wearing only your boxers. It's nice." He placed a kiss on her neck before he stole her coffee cup and took a sip. "Get your own," she chided.

He grimaced, "That tastes terrible anyway."

She spun around and started to gently run a finger over his cheekbone and along his jawline. "Let's leave for the hospital a little early this morning. I have to check on my patient."

"Your miracle patient?" He questioned with a grin.

"Yeah," she nodded with a small laugh. "My miracle patient." She leaned forward and kissed him softly. "I'm going to go get in the shower."

She slipped out of his grasp and he grinned over his shoulder as he watched her walk back into the house. "Be there in a second," he called.

Jackson yawned once again and stretched his arms above his head before he padded across the grass, barefoot, to their mailbox. He flicked through their mail as he returned to the house. He groaned aloud when he spotted one particular envelope. He had been dreading its arrival. He tossed the mail on the coffee table before he headed into the bathroom adjoined to their master bedroom.

He discarded his boxers and stepped into the roomy shower stall. April welcomed him by immediately wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him under the stream of hot water.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she glanced up at him and noticed his perturbed expression. His jaw was tense and his eyebrows were knitted together. "I've never seen you so upset while I've been wet and naked."

Jackson chuckled as his hands slid down her back to cup her ass. She was right, and he was an idiot to be thinking about other things while he was in the shower with his hot fiancé. "You're right; I have no reason to be upset." He kissed her hungrily as he pushed her up against the tiled wall.

She kissed him back and hooked one of her legs over his hips. He had almost distracted her enough so that she didn't analyze his phrasing. Almost. She pulled away from his mouth and placed her hands on his face so that she could look him in the eye. "Wait. Wait. What are you upset about?"

"After," he begged. "We can talk about it after. I promise." He didn't want to talk about it now, especially with her breasts pressed against his chest and his throbbing dick inches away from her warmth.

She gave in easily. "Okay," she breathed before she brought him back down to her for a kiss.

He wasted no time in hoisting her into his arms. She moaned as she locked her legs around his waist and he pushed inside of her. He grunted and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He felt her hands travel over his back and he shivered his response. This is what he had never had with other women. Every touch, every kiss, every sound…everything still felt new and exciting, and set him on edge. Every time they were together brought him back to that night in San Francisco that had changed his life. Sex with April was perfect and meaningful every time.

And she must feel the same way judging by the sensation of her fingers on his scalp and the endearments falling from her lips.

"I really love you," she whispered. And even she was surprised by the enormous weight behind her words. She really loved him a devastating amount. It became more apparent to her every day that she hadn't needed to be with other men to know that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Jackson.

He smiled and held her gaze as he slowly thrust inside of her. "I really love you too."

She bit down on her bottom lip and dragged her short nails down his back as she felt her orgasm approaching. Jackson adjusted her position in his arms and bit her neck, and that sent her over the edge. His hands tightened around her thighs as his own climax racked his body. He trailed kisses up her neck, finally settling on her mouth as they rode out the end of their pleasure together.

They continued to kiss sweetly as he carefully placed her back on her feet.

Jackson cleaned up quickly and left April to wash her hair. He wrapped a towel around his waist and proceeded to shave at the bathroom sink.

"Okay," April began as she turned the water off and grabbed a towel. She stepped out of the shower and faced her future husband's back. "What's up?" Unfortunately, he seemed way too focused on the shaving process, so she strode up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She placed a kiss on his shoulder blade as she said, "Tell me, baby."

He couldn't help but smile to himself. She certainly knew how to push his buttons; he loved it when she used pet names.

"It's actually not that big of a deal," he sighed in defeat. He finished shaving and wiped his face with a towel before he turned around to face her. "My invitation for the Harper Avery Foundation Gala came in the mail today."

April frowned, "That doesn't sound that bad."

"Yeah, it's not," he admitted begrudgingly. "It's just all those egotistical surgeons in the one room," he paused to shudder and it made April laugh. "And just so many Averys."

"When is it?" She asked curiously.

"Saturday in Boston."

Her eyes lit up excitedly. "I've never been to Boston."

Actually the more that he thought about it, the more that he realized that he hated the annual Harper Avery Foundation Gala for numerous reasons. He hated wearing a tux. He hated being on display because he was a member of the Avery family. He hated having mindless small talk with surgeons who wanted to get in good with his grandfather. He hated being compared to his sister. He hated defending plastics. The list went on and on. On the bright side, it was an open bar and the food was good, and this year he would have April.

"I'm glad that you're enthusiastic about it," he smiled. "I'm going to need you to keep me sane." He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I'm glad you'll be with me," he said quietly as he ran his nose along hers.

"Me too," she smiled happily.

* * *

Jackson sat at a table in the empty attendings' lounge with a cup of coffee and a magazine that he was completely disinterested in. He was having a lull in his day and April was in surgery. He had looked over a bunch of material for his clinical trial and now he was a little bored until his next scheduled procedure which wasn't for three hours, or until a major trauma came in.

He sighed in relief and carelessly tossed the magazine he had been reading on the table when Brooks walked in. "What's up, man?"

"Nothing much," Brooks responded casually, "in between consults." He grabbed a cup of coffee and took a seat next to Jackson. "What's up with you?"

"Absolutely nothing. It's a slow day."

"So, did you get your gala invitation?" Brooks asked after a moment.

Jackson turned to Brooks with an inquisitive expression. "You got invited too?"

Brooks nodded, "Yup, and so did Mara." He laughed at his friend's puzzled face. "I did my residency at Mass Gen and now I work with Derek Shepherd, I'm good for business."

Jackson laughed, "Yeah, I suppose you are."

"And I've known your family my whole life," he pointed out.

"True, true. I'm glad you're coming."

The more people that he had on his side the calmer he would be.

Brooks thought for a second before he blurted out, "Do you think I should bring Melanie?"

Melanie Mead was the petite, brunette friend that April had decided to set him up with. She was Christian and a teacher and Jackson had interacted with her a few times. She was really nice, definitely a future soccer Mom type. Much to his surprise; she and Brooks had really hit it off. However, they were "taking things slow". Jackson wasn't sure how long that would last but he admired the effort. He was also surprised that Brooks was thinking about taking her to Boston.

"You guys have been on like three dates!" Jackson chortled.

"First of all, last night was date number four, and says the guy that proposed after one month of dating," Brooks retorted.

"That's different," Jackson argued as he pointed an index finger at Brooks. "April and I have known each other for a very long time."

"Well, I really like her," he defended sheepishly.

"Awww," Jackson teased before Brooks punched him in the stomach to shut him up. "It might be a little soon," he said seriously after recovering from laughter. "But if you present it the right way she might wanna go, just don't make it sound so serious, so that she doesn't freak out."

"Yeah," Brooks pondered. "I'll think about that."

Both men smiled when April breezed into the room.

"How was your surgery?" Jackson asked sweetly.

"Great!"

Brooks raised his hand for a high five as he declared proudly, "I didn't have sex again last night!"

April laughed as she slapped Brooks' waiting hand. "Good for you."

Jackson laughed boisterously as he watched Brooks' smug grin. It was hilarious enough that his fiancé, who had been previously nicknamed the Virgin Mary by Yang and was now _very _sexually active, was Brooks' abstinence guide. He also couldn't believe that Liam Brooks was satisfied with himself because he was celibate.

The two of them had come a long way from being dumb jocks in Boston.

His thoughts were interrupted by April running a hand along his shoulders and asking, "Are you busy now?"

"Not at all," he responded eagerly.

April chuckled and promptly shook her head at the path that Jackson's thoughts had taken. "No, not that, I was hoping you'd do some pro bono work for me."

He was disappointed that she didn't want him for _something else_, but he was certainly willing to work. "Oh…yeah, sure, I can do that."

* * *

April's pro bono work turned out to be fixing up some sutured lacerations on her miracle patient that had been caused by bullet grazes. They had needed to fix them up quickly the night that he had been brought into the ER so they were done a little sloppily. April didn't want him to have any unnecessary scars.

Marcus Johnson was an alright kid and he was in pretty good spirits for having just undergone major surgery after a gang war. They mostly talked about sports while Jackson worked.

"How's it going?" April asked as she walked into the room with a smile.

"It's going great," Jackson answered. "We're debating the merits of Tim Tebow."

April wrinkled her nose in confusion as she checked on Marcus' vitals. "I have no idea who that is but it sounds fun."

Jackson laughed as he finished his last suture on the wound on Marcus' left leg. "He's a quarterback in the NFL, Dr. Kepner."

"Oh," she giggled. She made a few notes on Marcus' chart before she turned to Jackson with a bright smile. "Well thanks again for doing this Dr. Avery."

Jackson grinned to himself as he watched her leave the patient's room. He sort of liked her calling him Dr. Avery.

"Are you Dr. K's guy?" Marcus asked once the red-head was out of earshot.

Jackson glanced at the teen sceptically. "How did you know?"

"Come on, man, I'm not blind," he chuckled.

Jackson laughed along with him; he supposed that it was pretty obvious. "Yeah, we're engaged."

"Congrats."

"Thank you," Jackson grinned.

"She seems really nice," Marcus continued. "I mean, she's been talking to me about school and S.A.T.s and stuff, getting a job, making something of myself."

"And what do you think of all that?" Jackson asked curiously. He had expected April to take a vested interest in this particular patient but he didn't want her to be disappointed if her efforts failed. It was a sad reality that they couldn't help everyone.

"I kinda like it," he shrugged. "I mean it's probably too late for me to graduate high school now, by the time I get outta the hospital and stuff, but I can always get my GED." He tilted his head towards the stack of books on his bedside table. "Dr. K gave me some books."

Jackson smiled as he moved on to a laceration on the left arm. His future wife had a huge heart.

* * *

"_Baby, you and April are coming to the gala, right?"_

Jackson rolled his eyes as he talked to his mother on the phone. "Yes, and I will be there on my best behaviour." He felt April squeeze his hand so he looked down at her with a smile as they walked through the lobby of Elizabeth's apartment building. His sister had invited them over for dinner and they were running late but as luck would have it, his mother had called while they were in the car.

"_Well I expect nothing less, and my colleagues are very excited to meet your bride-to-be."_

"Oh God," Jackson groaned. He could vividly picture those vultures swarming April. He hoped that they wouldn't grill her too bad.

His mother ignored his dismay and continued on, _"Is Elizabeth bringing a guest?"_

"Actually Mom, April and I are on our way to her place right now. We're about to get in the elevator."

"_Well tell her to call me."_

"I will. Love you and I'll see you soon," he rushed out.

"_Bye baby, love you too. See you soon!"_

Jackson ended the call and slipped his cell phone into his jacket pocket. He stepped into the elevator with April and raised their joined hands so that he could place a kiss on hers. "She's very excited," he told her glumly.

"That's nice," April smiled. "I'm excited too."

Thankfully, the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open before they could further discuss their "excitement". At least by having dinner with Elizabeth, he could share his misery with someone else.

He knocked on his sister's apartment door and patiently waited for her to answer. When the door finally opened, the person standing in front of him was the very last person that he expected to see.

"Karev? What the hell are you doing here?"

Alex stared back at his friend speechless while Elizabeth smiled awkwardly over his shoulder.

"Karev?" Jackson repeated menacingly as his eyes narrowed.

"Jackson, honey, you're hurting my hand," April muttered.

"Sorry," he replied quietly as he let his fiancé's hand free.

April closely observed the stalemate in front of her. She was waiting for one of them to speak but it seemed as if all they were capable of doing was staring at each other. She prayed that Jackson wouldn't try to fight him; it would be the third time since they had met. She threaded her arm through his just in case. Elizabeth didn't look like she was about to say anything any time soon either so it was up to her to break the silence.

She raised her free hand and showcased the bottle of wine that they had brought with them. "We brought alcohol!"

* * *

**A/N: So some of you predicted that Alex's mystery woman was Elizabeth so I hope that you like this twist! Please leave a review! :)**


	25. Men

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 25 - Men**

"Elizabeth," Jackson began angrily. "We need to talk. Now."

Elizabeth joined her brother in the hallway while April scurried into the apartment with Alex. She made sure that her apartment door was firmly closed behind her before she faced her brother. She was willing to admit that she was scared of his reaction, which is why she had waited this long to tell him about her and Alex.

"Karev?" He began incredulously. "Karev? Really?" Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak but he continued talking furiously. "Out of all the guys in Seattle, you date Karev!" He chuckled without humor to himself. "You would though, wouldn't you? You decide to date a friend of mine, who is terrible for you, by the way. You give me all this crap about April not being good enough to be an Avery and you start dating _Karev_? HA! That's ironic."

"Can you stop ranting for a second?" Elizabeth demanded. Jackson stood in front of her with his hands on his hips and took deep breaths. His nostrils were flared and she could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. "Thank you." She pinched the bridge of her nose as she organized her thoughts. "I know that it seems odd—"

"Odd? _Odd_?" He repeated disbelievingly.

She glared at him and he stopped talking. "I know that it seems odd," she continued, "we're a little mismatched, but it works. He's not afraid to put me in my place and tell me when I'm wrong, or acting self-centered, or being a pain in the ass. I thought that you would think that he's good for me. He's obviously got a great job. He's funny and he's honest. He's…refreshing." Alex Karev could be crude and mean but he had a good heart, he had just been put through a lot of crap in his life.

Meanwhile, in Elizabeth's apartment, Alex had opened the bottle of wine that April had brought and had already downed a glass. He poured himself another as he asked, "He's pissed, isn't he?"

"Certainly seems that way," April replied.

Alex turned to the red-head and pleaded, "Kepner, if you like me even a little bit then you will have lots of dirty sex with him when you get home."

April shot Alex an affronted expression before she responded, "You should have just told him the truth. He asked who you were seeing plenty of times."

"I know," he groaned. They had been keeping things under wraps primarily because he hadn't wanted Avery to think that he was just messing with his sister. However, once it was clear that they weren't just a fling, he had been intimidated to tell his friend that he was seriously dating his sister.

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" She asked curiously.

"A while." April arched an eyebrow so he elaborated, "Over a month. We had a case together and it just kinda happened." More specifically, they had argued about the surgical approach and then they had jumped each other. At first he had found her profoundly arrogant and annoying, and she still sort of was, but she was very intelligent, gorgeous, and witty. She had layers and for one of the first times in his life, he was interested in doing the work to uncover those layers.

"Are you living here?" Alex nodded and April did her best to hide her immense surprise. That was a huge step for Alex, even if he was just staying with Elizabeth out of convenience. "Are you happy?" She inquired with a smile.

He screwed up his face in displeasure and groaned, "Kepner, I don't wanna talk about this with you."

April's laughter was interrupted by the door opening and Jackson and Elizabeth entering the apartment. Both Averys looked very stern and it didn't seem like they had resolved much.

* * *

After a very tense dinner, April and Jackson returned to their home. Jackson was still visibly angry and he had barely said a word to her since they had left Elizabeth's. She wasn't exactly sure what he was mad about. Was it the basic fact that Alex was dating his sister? Was it because their relationship was obviously serious? Or was it because Alex had agreed to accompany Elizabeth to the Harper Avery Foundation Gala? She thought that they were cute together but she didn't dare voice her thoughts aloud at the present time. She would wait for him to cool down first.

She sighed as she watched him sit on the couch and turn the television to some sports highlights show. It was an obvious message that he did not want to talk about it.

April flitted around the house doing random chores to occupy herself. She was in the kitchen, rearranging the items in the refrigerator, when Jackson came up behind her and started to kiss her neck.

His hands sneaked beneath her top as he whispered, "Wanna go to bed?"

She chuckled and spun out of his grasp. "No."

"Why not?" He inquired as he followed her around to the other side of the island counter.

"Because we're not burying this with sex," she stated frankly.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I'm not dwelling on it April, I just don't want to discuss it. I don't have anything else to say on the matter."

She stared at him in disbelief. "So you're not upset that Alex and Elizabeth are dating?"

"No," he disputed. "Of course I am. We don't always see eye to eye but she's still my sister." He paused and looked at her sadly before he asked, "What if he hurts her? He hurt you."

April smiled; he was cute when he was protective. "He's different now," she advocated. "He's changed a lot." She couldn't believe that she was standing up for Alex Karev _again_, she felt like she had been doing this a lot lately, but she believed what she was saying. Pediatrics, and Arizona Robbins, had done amazingly positive things for Alex.

"People don't really change," he scoffed.

"Of course they do," she argued passionately. "I've changed. You've changed." She grinned as she stepped up to him and placed her hands on his chest. "I wouldn't have kissed you outside my hotel room otherwise. We wouldn't be together now if we were the same people we were when we first met."

He looked down at her and smiled softly. He ran a hand through her hair as he thought about what she was saying. "I suppose that's true. You love being right, don't you?"

"I do," she smirked.

He leaned down to kiss her but they were interrupted by their door bell ringing. They looked at each other in confusion before they walked to the front door together. They were both surprised when they found a very worked up Alex on their doorstep and Elizabeth running towards them from her car.

"You know what Avery?" Alex began as his friend stepped out of his house and onto the deck. "I don't give a damn what you think!"

Jackson prickled defensively and pushed his shoulders back. "Excuse me?"

"Alex, don't," Elizabeth attempted to intervene.

However, the stubborn peds surgeon did not heed her warning. "My relationship is none of your freakin' business so stay out of it!"

"My sister is my business," Jackson retorted fiercely. "Family may not mean much to you but it does to me."

April cringed at Jackson's harsh words and before she knew it, Alex had grabbed Jackson and both men tumbled off of the patio and onto the grass. They were wrestling like teenagers and unlike the last time that they had fought, Alex had the upper hand. There were a lot of muffled swear words and insults as they rolled around the front lawn.

"Alex, my wedding is in less than three weeks! I kinda need a groom to get married!" April yelled. Neither of them seemed to hear her, or otherwise they didn't care, so she yelled again. "Alex! Jackson!"

Elizabeth placed a hand on April's shoulder to calm her down. "It's alright. I just think that they need to get it out of their systems."

Jackson groaned as Alex got him into a headlock but he elbowed him in the stomach and quickly flipped him onto his back. Alex aimlessly threw a punch and he got Jackson in the shoulder. The dark-skinned man winced and responded by throttling his opponent. Alex punched him again and it narrowly missed his face.

"Hey! Be careful! I'm getting married and I don't want a black eye," Jackson told him sternly.

"Yeah! Well I have to operate on a four month old tomorrow morning!" Alex retorted.

They both stilled and after a moment, broke into a fit of laughter. Jackson fell back onto the grass and felt his face for injuries while the man beside him caught his breath and flexed his hands.

"Man, I'm sorry," Jackson finally offered.

"Yeah, dude, me too," Alex replied. "And just so ya know, I'm not messing with her, I really like her."

"Yeah, I can tell," Jackson admitted begrudgingly. "And she really likes you too."

Jackson and Alex started to laugh again and from the patio, April looked down at the two of them in utter disbelief. "Men," she grumbled.

"See?" Elizabeth grinned. "They just needed to work it out in some stupid, Neanderthal way."

April sighed before she turned to her future sister-in-law. "Do you want to come in for a drink?"

"Yes, please," she answered thankfully. A drink was exactly what she needed after this night.

April led Elizabeth inside the house while the two men continued to lie in the grass.

"Are you sure you're ready for the Harper Avery Foundation Gala?" Jackson asked after a long silence.

"No," Alex confessed with a chuckle. "But I'm gonna try."

Jackson smiled to himself, surprisingly that answer was good enough for him. He slowly got to his feet and extended his hand to the man still lying on the ground. "Come in for a beer."

Alex grinned as he accepted Jackson's hand and hopped to his feet.

* * *

Jackson chuckled as he sat on the closed toilet seat in the master bathroom and April pressed an icepack over his left eye. She had insisted on doing this even though Alex hadn't landed a punch good enough to leave a mark.

"April," he laughed. "This really isn't necessary." She responded by giving him a unyielding look so he decided against saying anything else. He already knew that she was a little mad at him because of the way that he had handled things with Karev. But it was clear that sometimes he and Karev just needed to have it out in order to deal with each other. And they were fine now, more than fine even.

"How's your hand?" She asked with a sigh.

"Fine," he replied quickly.

She took his right hand anyway and placed the icepack on his knuckles. She knew that he had a full day tomorrow.

With his free hand, he tugged on the tie of her robe but she shot him a glare that said: 'Not in a million years'. He tossed his head back and groaned. "How long are you going to stay mad at me?"

"Haven't decided yet," she murmured. She was glad that he, Alex, and Elizabeth were able to have a civil conversation once again but Jackson could have handled the whole thing much better. "Maybe when you start acting your age."

Jackson rolled his eyes as April left the bathroom to put the icepack back in the refrigerator. He brushed his teeth before he headed into their bedroom and slipped into bed. April returned and didn't even look at him as she took her robe off and climbed into bed beside him.

She rolled onto her side so that her back was facing him but it wasn't long before he turned onto his side as well and started to run his fingers down her back.

"What are you doing?"

"Well right now I'm acting like I'm probably about fifteen or sixteen," he joked.

"Not funny," she retorted.

He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her shoulder. "Sorry. I'm sorry." He slipped his hand underneath her tank top so that he could touch her bare skin. "I probably shouldn't have hit him." He could imagine her raised eyebrow so he added, "Okay, no probably about it, but he's not exactly a big talker."

"That's true," she agreed weakly.

"Fighting probably saved us a week of avoiding each other. But I'm not going to react like that in every situation if that's what you're worried about," he whispered comfortingly.

"I know," she hummed. Truthfully, she was terrified that physical violence might be his reaction when he saw his father again and that was the last thing that she wanted. She turned over to face him and placed a hand on his face while she kissed him softly. "Stop punching people," she said in between kisses.

He laughed softly, "I will try my best, for you." His hand slipped behind her knee and he pulled her leg up around his hips. "And really, I only make a habit out of punching Karev."

She couldn't help herself from giggling against his mouth. "I just don't want anything happening to your hands…or your pretty face."

"Of course," he laughed. He thrust his growing erection against her center as he pushed his hand beneath her shorts. "I thought that it was hot when you got into that fight in San Francisco. You don't think that it's at least a little bit sexy?" He inquired as he dipped his head to kiss her neck.

Both of her hands clutched his back as he lavished attention on that sensitive spot on her neck. "Well I suppose it is, a little bit," she pondered. It certainly was masculine. "But I'm still mad at you," she said through a low moan.

He grinned triumphantly into the crook of her neck before he dropped his mouth to the swell of her breasts. "I know, baby. I know."

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter is the gala and it's a big one. Please leave a review! :)**


	26. The Gala

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Disclaimer: I think it's pretty clear that I do not own Grey's.**

* * *

**Chapter 26 – The Gala**

"We are now beginning our descent into Boston."

April threaded her fingers through Jackson's and sat up straighter in her seat as their plane began to gradually drop in altitude. When they had boarded the plane in Seattle, Boston had seemed so far away, but here they were. She wasn't sure if she was ready to meet every important person in the medical community but she had no other choice now. Brooks and Mara Keaton were sitting across the aisle from them, appearing calm and collected, but when she glanced back at Alex and Elizabeth she saw that the peds surgeon looked just as apprehensive as she felt. He could be nervous about the landing, Alex was still a little frightened of flying in the wake of the Seattle Grace plane crash, but she was willing to bet the majority of his fidgeting could be attributed to the gala that they had to attend in a few hours.

Jackson leaned towards her and gently nuzzled his nose against the side of her head. "Nervous?" He asked with a slightly teasing tone to his voice.

"A little," she admitted after a deep breath.

"You should have told me that an hour ago, we could have calmed down in the bathroom," he said with a grin.

April couldn't help but laugh at his comment. It was true that nowadays the easiest and most effective way that she combated stress was by having sex, a method that Jackson certainly enjoyed. She squeezed his hand as a promise that they could possibly do that later.

Their plane finally came to a stop and since no one had checked any baggage they made their way through the airport to find the driver that Catherine Avery had sent for them. A tall, dark man in a suit was waiting for them with a sign that read 'Avery'. Both April's and Alex's eyes widened when they stepped outside and saw that Catherine hadn't only sent a car, she had sent a limo.

"Holy shit," Alex muttered so that only April could hear him.

She silently agreed with him. She had never been in a limo before.

After dropping Brooks and Mara off at a hotel, they continued on to the Avery family home. They pulled into the driveway and this time it was April's turn to mutter an expletive. Jackson had grown up in a mini-mansion! She had always pictured his childhood home to be quite lavish but this was beyond anything she had ever imagined. A few nights ago Jackson had made her watch a few of the _Batman_ movies and she couldn't help but think that his house was comparable to Wayne Manor. It was absolutely gorgeous!

The four surgeons walked into the house and Jackson gleefully led April up the stairs. Since his family had already met April, they could sneak away to leave Karev to be the center of attention.

"This house is incredible," April stated in awe as he pulled her through the upstairs hallway.

"Mom takes a lot of pride in this house," he replied dismissively as he reached his old bedroom.

"Whoa," she breathed as they stepped inside the room. "You could fit our entire old apartment in this room."

He laughed, "It's not _that_ big." He placed their garment bags that contained their formal wear and her carry-on bag on a nearby armchair as he closely observed her.

April ignored him as she looked around the bedroom. He had a king size bed, his own bathroom, a flat screen television on the wall opposite the bed, a giant stereo system, a bookshelf full of CDs, and dozens of sports trophies spread across the top of a dresser. The room was tastefully decorated and there weren't any posters on the walls so despite the fact that it was clearly a boy's room, it had an air of maturity and class that could only be attached to an Avery.

She walked towards the dresser and smiled at the framed photos of Jackson from high school. There were ones with various sports teams, a few of him and Brooks together, and a prom picture of him and his date. She had to admit that he looked very cute in his basketball uniform and he hadn't changed that drastically over the years. She turned back to her fiancé with a grin. "No wonder you got all the girls. You were a total babe magnet." He chuckled huskily as he stepped towards her and placed his hands on her hips. "This room is like a bachelor pad."

"You may be surprised to know that I've never seduced a woman in this room before," he whispered. He had always been wary of his mother or his sister running his girlfriends off so he had always gone to their places to avoid the other women in his life. The other person who had spent the most time in this room in his teen years had been Brooks. "Care to be the first?"

He spun her around and guided her to the bed. "B-but…but," she stammered.

He grinned as he started to kiss her. "We couldn't have sex in Ohio; we can have all the sex we want in Massachusetts."

"Shouldn't we go downstairs?" She protested as he gently laid her down on the bed and peppered kisses down her neck. "Are we really gonna hang Alex out to dry like that?"

"Absolutely. Everyone has met you, they love you, it's their turn now."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rolled him onto his back. "That sounds fair," she smiled. "But I kinda feel like I'm soiling your bedroom," she told him with a girlish giggle.

He chuckled as he slid both of his hands along her waist, underneath her top. "Please do."

She kissed him enthusiastically as she playfully rocked her hips against his. He groaned as one hand tightened around her waist while the other slipped down to cup her behind. She pushed his soft, blue sweater up his torso and he promptly whipped it over his head and across the room. She ran her hands along his bare chest as he opened the buttons on her shirt. She sat up and slowly removed her top. She tossed it aside and mischievously smiled down at him as she reached behind her back to unhook her bra.

Jackson groaned in frustration when a knock sounded on his door before April had the chance to remove her bra. "We're taking a nap Mom," he lied. He didn't need to ask who it was; he already knew that it was her. She had the most spectacular timing.

"We're leaving for the gala at seven," she called back.

Jackson glanced at his watch and saw that they still had two and a half hours before they had to leave. "Okay!" He heard the doorknob begin to turn and he rapidly deposited April onto the other side of the bed and raced to the door. He managed to cut his mother off before she fully stepped into the room. "Mother!"

Catherine Avery arched an eyebrow at her flustered, half-naked son. "Taking a nap?" She repeated in suspicion. "We're all adults here Jackson, you could have just said that you—"

"Stop! Stop," he stopped her before she could go any further. "We'll meet you downstairs at seven."

He tried to close the door but his mother placed an open palm on the wood to hold it open. "You didn't even say hello, you just rushed up the stairs," she chastised. She leaned upwards and kissed him on the cheek before she aggressively pushed past her son and smiled at her blushing, future daughter-in-law. "April, honey, how are you?"

"I'm great, Dr. Avery. How are you?" Jackson had always warned her that his mother had no boundaries but this was a new level even for her. She self-consciously crossed her arms over her chest to hide as much skin as she could. She couldn't understand how the older woman wasn't fazed by the fact that she was sitting on the bed without a shirt on.

"I'm wonderful, dear," she smiled.

Jackson grabbed his mother by her elbow and started to drag her towards the door. "Mom. Leave. Now."

"Are you still on the birth control pill?" April meekly nodded so she continued with a smile. "Just so you know, I want grandbabies soon."

At those words, Jackson unceremoniously pushed his mother out of the room and quickly closed and locked the bedroom door. He sighed as he ran a hand over his face. After all these years, his mother still had it. Luckily, April was his fiancé and not just some girlfriend. She was used to his mother's antics.

"She is so ridiculous," he stated in frustration.

April looked up at him with a small smile. "She is a little bit but she means well." She slowly got up off of the bed and walked towards him. "I think that I'm going to get in the shower."

"Yeah, and I'll probably actually take that nap." His mother had properly ruined the mood. He kissed her softly before she headed into the bathroom and he lay down on his bed.

* * *

"Jackson! Can you come here and zip me up please!" April called from the bathroom.

Jackson fixed his bowtie in the mirror one last time before he headed into his bathroom. He stopped in his tracks when he laid eyes on her. "Wow…wow…"

She turned her head to smile at him as she put an earring in. "Like the dress?"

"_Love_ the dress," he responded as he moved behind her to pull up the zipper. It was green, floor-length, and strapless. And tight. Her hair was pulled up; showing off her beautiful neck and shoulders, and her makeup was done modestly, nothing too over the top but enough to accentuate her prettiest features. He was particularly fond of her red lipstick. She looked perfect, dressy but not too much, sexy but not scandalous. However, he still wanted to keep her in this room and spend the night in bed. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. "You look amazing."

"Thank you." She turned around to face him and smiled brightly as she straightened his bowtie and ran her hands down the lapels of his tuxedo jacket. "You look amazing too." She would probably never get over how handsome he looked in a suit, and he had neglected to shave, he considered it a form of Avery family rebellion but she thought that it made him look distinguished. "Are you ready to go?"

"I don't think I'll ever really be ready," he answered sarcastically.

With her hands still on the lapels of his jacket, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "If you're pleasant this evening I'll reward you later."

She brushed past him on her way back into his bedroom and he smirked at her over his shoulder. "Oh really?"

She sat on the end of his bed to put on her shoes. "Yeah," she replied as she looked up at him coyly.

"What kinda reward we talking about here?" He asked in intrigue.

She blushed as she stood up and grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go."

He grinned excitedly to himself as she dragged him down over the stairs. If she blushed and wasn't able to say it then it had to be good.

* * *

April had no idea why Jackson had been dreading this event. She was having a good time. She had been initially bombarded by some of Catherine's colleagues, but they had nothing but nice things to say. They hadn't been half as intimidating as Jackson had implied. They had asked to examine her engagement ring and had inquired about the wedding, and Catherine had stood by her side the entire time, brimming with excitement. It had made her feel very welcomed…and accepted.

Afterwards, she was able to stand by the bar with Jackson and just watch everybody else mulling about. There were so many amazing doctors here, she was thankful for the opportunity to pick their brains.

Jackson handed her a glass of champagne with a smile. "Here you go."

"Thank you," she smiled back. He was acting so chipper that it took everything in her not to openly laugh at him. Men were so predictable. "Ooh, your grandfather is coming over."

Jackson glanced upwards and saw that Harper Avery was indeed heading towards them. "Grandfather," he greeted politely.

"Jackie," he smiled excitedly before he turned to April. "Lovely to see you again Dr. Kepner." He took her hand and kissed it and Jackson refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Nice to see you too," April giggled.

The older man made a snappy remark about his facial hair and complimented April's dress and just when Jackson thought his grandfather couldn't get any worse, he went and said something absolutely remarkable.

"Jackson, there's this plastic surgeon from New York that I want you to meet. He could probably give you some insight on your trial."

Jackson almost choked on his champagne before he managed to respond. "Are you serious?"

Harper Avery nodded enthusiastically. "Dr. Bradley from NYU."

"Um, yeah, I'd love to meet him," he replied hesitantly as he straightened his jacket.

His grandfather walked off and Jackson followed him after an encouraging smile and small push from April. Maybe his grandfather was finally getting it. That he was serious about plastics and that it was his career now.

April looked around awkwardly but thankfully it wasn't long before she was joined by Brooks. "Hey, you look nice," he smiled.

"You too. You clean up surprisingly well," she joked.

He laughed along with her as he playfully flicked his bowtie. "I do what I can." He finished typing a message on his phone and hit send before he slipped the device back into his pocket. "Mel says hi."

April smiled uncontrollably. She had been excited about setting him up but Brooks was behaving even better than she had envisioned. He was being nothing but patient, respectful, and charming. Melanie had declined his invitation to this event because she didn't want to move too fast but her friend was head over heels for the neuro surgeon. She gushed about him every time they spoke and he seemed to feel the same way about her.

"Tell her I say hi back. I want to have you guys over for dinner sometime soon, like before the wedding."

"Awesome," Brooks grinned. "We can do it right when we go back, we could—" He abruptly stopped talking when he caught sight of a certain woman. "Oh fuck," he said to himself. He quickly spun around and shielded his face.

April observed his actions curiously, he wasn't exactly being inconspicuous. "You hiding from a jilted lover or something?" She teased.

"Ha ha, not quite _my_ jilted lover," he explained cryptically. He took a deep breath before he turned to face April while discreetly averting her eyes. "That woman who's looking at us from across the room."

She glanced upwards and asked for clarification. "The blonde one?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "That's Kelly Masters. She's an oncologist at Harvard. Her father is the Chief of Surgery at Boston Medical. She and Jackson…were kinda…supposed to…get married."

"What?" April practically shouted. At her outburst she looked around and thankfully, she hadn't drawn any unwanted attention to herself.

"They only dated for a couple months but their grandfathers had already started planning the wedding. It would have been like a surgical royal wedding," he explained. "But Avery was never really into her, not like he's into you," he added quickly.

April swallowed harshly as she took a large gulp of her drink. Jackson had never mentioned a Kelly Masters and he had certainly never mentioned that his family had tried to marry him off. She nervously sipped on her champagne as she peeked across the room. Kelly Masters was really pretty.

"So what happened between them?" She asked timidly.

"They just fizzled out I guess," he replied. "Like I said, he wasn't really into it and then he left for Seattle to start his residency." He caught the frown on her face and instantly scolded himself. "Shit! I didn't mean to upset you; I-I just thought I should warn you, I—"

She smiled softly and gently placed a hand on his forearm. "Liam, it's okay. I'm going to get another drink, do you want one?"

He shook his head. "No thank you."

April headed towards the bar and politely asked the bartender for another glass of champagne. Just when she thought that she knew everything that there was to know about Jackson, something came up that completely shocked her. It seemed like it had been happening fairly consistently since they had become engaged and she didn't like it. It wasn't a very nice feeling to be caught off guard like this.

"You're April Kepner," a voice beside her chimed.

April knew who was standing beside her before she turned her head. The jilted lover. "Yes, and you are?" She asked with feigned ignorance.

"Kelly Masters, I've known Jackson for years."

Kelly extended her hand and April shook it with a smile even though all that she wanted to do was run away.

* * *

For the first time in his life Jackson could honestly say that he was having a good time at the Harper Avery Foundation Gala. He couldn't believe that his grandfather had willing participated in a conversation about plastics with him and Dr. Bradley, and he hadn't been the least bit condescending. It was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He was an Avery in plastics and that was finally okay with everybody else.

However, he should have known that his good mood couldn't last forever.

When he headed to the bathroom before they all sat down for dinner, he ran into a woman from his past that he definitely didn't want to see. She hadn't attended this event in three years so he had not anticipated seeing her here this evening.

"Hey Jackson," she greeted with a smile.

"Hi Kelly," he replied unenthusiastically.

"How are you?"

"I'm great," he answered truthfully. "You?"

"Good," she nodded with a smile. "I'm good." After a pause she added, "I met your fiancé tonight. She's nice. Finally settling down, huh?"

"Yup. We're getting married on the eighth."

Her eyes widened. "The eighth of September?" She stepped towards him and licked her lips after he nodded. "So little time left as a free man," she purred.

"Kelly, knock it off," he grumbled. He knew what she was doing; he had seen her do it many times. They had only dated briefly but many of his return trips to Boston in the early years of his residency had typically involved meeting up with Kelly and…well.

She placed her hands on his chest and started to push him through the door of the men's restroom. "For old times' sake?" She whispered hopefully.

He stumbled backwards into the bathroom and it didn't take them very long to discover that they were not alone. Karev was at one of the sinks washing his hands.

Alex took in the scene before him and laughed bitterly. "Well this night just keeps getting better and better."

Alex Karev wasn't the type of guy to enjoy this kind of event anyway, but he hadn't expected it to be this much of a disaster. He had met both Harper and Catherine Avery before but tonight he had had in-depth conversations with them and had been introduced to many other people, and it was like Elizabeth wouldn't let them discuss anything other than surgery. When anyone tried to change the subject she rerouted it back to his surgeries or his African kids, or something else about peds, it was like she didn't want her family or friends to know anything else about him, like she was ashamed of the part of him that wasn't a surgeon. It was frustrating. And now he had to catch Avery sneaking into the bathroom with some blonde for a quick screw. What a hypocrite.

"Karev." Jackson started to defend himself but the other man stormed out of the room before he had the chance.

April spotted Alex rushing across the large ballroom and he looked very upset. She stepped into his path and looked at him in concern. "Alex, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving," he answered abruptly.

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why?"

"Because I don't belong here," he stated in a harsh whisper. "And I was an idiot to think that I could fit in."

"What happened?" She asked softly.

He ignored her question when he responded and all of his emotions just rushed out. "The only reason these people are even willing to talk to us is because we're surgeons. Who the fuck cares? If I picked up the fucking garbage I'd still have more self-respect than these people. They care about money and their reputations and are here tonight for the sole purpose of kissing the Averys asses! For what reason I have no idea," he laughed sarcastically. "They look down on people like me and you because we're from buttfuck nowhere and had to actually work for something. I don't belong here and neither do you," he stated passionately before he pushed past her and headed for the exit.

All that April could do was stare at his retreating form in shock. She had never heard Alex rant like that before.

Next, Jackson ran past her and she tried to stop him. "Jackson, what's going on?"

"I'll be back in a second, babe," he assured her before he continued to run after Alex.

Jackson caught Alex outside before he could hail a cab. "What are you doing, man?"

"Getting the fuck outta here," he snapped.

"Just come back inside or you're gonna upset my sister," he pleaded.

Alex chuckled humorlessly before he turned around to glare at Jackson. "I should hit you."

"I wasn't gonna do anything with her," he sighed in frustration. "I swear. I was just trying to pull her off me." Alex looked at Jackson like he wasn't sure if he believed him and he wasn't sure what else to say. "I wouldn't do that to April. She would never forgive me and we both know it. I'm not that stupid."

Alex didn't respond because Brooks approached them. "Problem guys?"

Jackson turned to Alex and raised his eyebrow in challenge. "Is there?"

Alex shook his head as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Nope."

"Well then, let's go inside for dinner," Brooks smiled.

* * *

Everyone was so exhausted after the gala that they quickly parted ways with muttered goodbyes.

April walked through the door of Jackson's bedroom and immediately took off her shoes. She quickly followed the action by pulling her hair down and removing her earrings.

In a similar fashion, Jackson toed off his shoes and took off his suit jacket and bowtie. He took a deep breath before he walked up behind April and started to tug down the zipper of her dress. "Did you have a good time tonight?" He asked softly as he pushed her hair to one side and placed a kiss on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she answered quietly.

She did have a nice time but the truth was that learning about Kelly Masters had rattled her and Alex's furious words had sent her mind into a tailspin. What if Alex was right? What if she didn't belong in Jackson's world? What if she wasn't meant to be an Avery? What if she didn't know Jackson as well as she thought she did?

Her inner monologue was interrupted by Jackson's husky voice. "You were great," he commented as he ran his mouth up her neck and wrapped an arm tightly around her waist. "And I couldn't believe how great my grandfather was," he chuckled. "He actually wanted to talk to me about plastics."

"That's great," she whispered. "I'm glad he's finally coming around."

But despite every terrifying thought that had passed through her mind, there was still Jackson. And the way that she felt about him was undeniable. She melted into him as he pulled her back against his chest and continued his ministrations on her neck. She clutched the arm around her midsection with one hand while the other covered her mouth to prevent a sob from escaping. She squeezed her eyes shut and steeled her resolve. She was not going to cry tonight.

After taking a moment to compose herself, she spun around and aggressively captured his lips. She flung her arms around his neck and he lifted her into his arms so that he could carry her to the bed. She furiously tugged his shirt out of his pants and unbuttoned it so that she could take it off of him. She rid him of his pants just as quickly.

He noticed that her hands worked frantically and that her kisses were desperate and intense but it didn't concern him right away. He carefully removed her dress and kissed around her navel. She was so beautiful, her skin was so soft. He trailed his mouth up her body, over the middle of her strapless bra, and her neck before his lips settled on hers. He tangled a hand in her thick hair and slowly pulled away so that he could look at her. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked immediately after taking in her glistening eyes and downturned mouth. So that was the difference in her, she was upset about something.

"Nothing," she replied. She clutched his face with both of her hands and brought him down for another kiss.

He complied for a second before he tore himself away from her and lovingly nuzzled his nose against hers. "April, tell me what's wrong," he pleaded.

"It's nothing," she insisted. "Just…please…" She ran her hands along his shoulders and down his back before returning them to his face. "Make love to me. Please." Typically she didn't advocate burying their problems with sex but she didn't want to feel like this anymore. She wanted to feel close to him. "Please."

"Okay," he whispered as he brushed her cheek with is thumb. "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back before they kissed again.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, the dress April wore to the gala is the one from Bailey's wedding. Grey's is back on Thursday and I'm trying to keep my Japril feels strong but it is difficult. Lol. All I have to say is that the new paramedic better be for April and it better make Jackson murderous with jealously.**

**Please leave a review! :)**


	27. More than Anything

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I found this chapter rather difficult to write so I hope that it's up to your standards.**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 27 – More than Anything**

Brooks and Melanie Mead entered April and Jackson's home with bright smiles. April had kept her word about having the new couple in for dinner before the wedding and she was happy to host. The four adults interacted friendlily but it wasn't long before they split up based upon gender. The two women headed to the kitchen while the men stayed in the living room after Jackson had fetched two beers from the refrigerator.

"How are you and Liam doing?" April began conversationally as she poured her friend a glass of wine. She felt responsible for their relationship so she needed constant updates. She would feel incredibly guilty if they ended up hurting each other.

"Great," Melanie grinned. "He's great. I love spending time with him."

"That's awesome," April replied happily.

She tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow and Melanie seemed to understand what she was trying to ask without words. She blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before she answered. "No, we still haven't…ya know…we're still taking our time getting to know each other. I want to feel like I really know him before we take that next step."

"That's nice," April muttered. She thought that she had done that very same thing, that she had gotten to know everything about a man and that he had known everything about her before she had slept with him, given him her virginity in her case, but she had been recently rethinking all of that.

"So how was Boston?" Melanie asked she leaned on the kitchen counter with her glass of wine in hand and watched April methodically stir the pasta sauce.

The red-head crinkled her nose. "It was…interesting."

"And what does that mean?" Melanie asked with a chuckle. Liam had told her all about the Harper Avery Foundation Gala but he hadn't mentioned anything particularly "interesting". She assumed that it had gone smoothly.

"Well," April sighed. "It was going great until I met the woman that the Averys had handpicked for Jackson to marry. She was blonde and beautiful, and elegant. And I kinda liked her, which made me hate her even more."

"Did you ask him about her?" Melanie inquired tentatively.

April shook her head. "No. I couldn't…I couldn't bring myself to." After all of the difficulties they had had over Jackson's past and other women, she couldn't bring herself to rehash the topic even if this new information had completely taken her by surprise. She knew that one of her most damaging characteristics was that she overthought everything, but she couldn't seem to stop thinking about this. It was really bothering her.

"Does he know that something's up?" Melanie asked curiously. "That you're upset about something?"

"I think so but I've been keeping him…distracted," she replied bashfully.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Jackson conspiratorially whispered to Brooks. "We haven't stopped having sex since we came back from Boston." Brooks' raised an eyebrow and so he continued. "I'm serious. Whatever I want. Whenever I want. Wherever I want." It was like she had completely let go of all of her sexual inhibitions but something still seemed…off.

"And you're complaining about this because…?" Brooks responded incredulously.

"Because I think that it means that there's something she's not telling me," he explained.

Brooks shrugged. "Maybe she's just horny. I know I am," he added quietly after a moment.

Jackson shook his head. That wasn't it. Every time that he tried to start a conversation that wasn't about work, she jumped him. At first he had liked the spontaneity of it, and he had certainly thought nothing of it, but now her behaviour was starting to concern him. Also, he couldn't manage to get the image of her miserable expression before they had made love in his teenage bedroom out of his head. She had refused to tell him something that night and he hadn't pushed her. Maybe he should have.

The more that he thought about it the more worried that he became. They were getting married in ten days. What if she was having second thoughts? Getting cold feet? What if she had cheated on him? He knew that the chances of April being unfaithful were very slim, practically miniscule, but now he was thinking about worst case scenarios. He was starting to freak out.

He looked over at Brooks and saw that his friend was picking at the label on his beer bottle. "I think that I might know what she's thinking about," the neuro surgeon muttered.

Jackson sat up straighter at his words. "What? What is it?" He inquired frantically.

"It might be about Kelly Masters," he proposed.

"Ah shit," Jackson sighed. He had completely forgotten that Kelly had mentioned that she had met April. Who knows what that witch had said to his fiancé? He ran his hand over his face as he groaned.

Now he felt even worse.

His thoughts were interrupted when April strolled into the living room with a smile. "Dinner is ready!"

* * *

April glanced up from her medical journal when Alex took the seat next to her at a cafeteria table. "Hey," she greeted softly.

"Hey," he grumbled as he dove into his fries.

"How are you?" She asked cautiously. He had been acting more isolated than usual since they had returned from Boston. He had thrown himself into his caseload. He spent nights at Joe's. He had even taken to eating his lunch alone in the tunnels, which was why she was surprised to see him now.

He ignored her question and asked, "Where's Avery?"

"He's in surgery."

They sat in companionable silence, just eating their lunches, and it was a long time before Alex spoke again.

"We broke up," he quietly stated.

She turned to face him so quickly that she cricked her neck. "Alex, no," she began sadly. "Why?"

"It was stupid," he explained feebly. "We would have never worked. Whatever," he shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I'm fine."

She opened her mouth to tell him that it was okay if he wasn't fine and that he didn't have to resort to his usual defense mechanisms, and that she would listen to him if he wanted to talk, but before she had the chance to express any of those thoughts; Meredith and Cristina joined them at the table. The two women both looked at Alex like they knew that something was wrong but neither one brought it up, for which April was thankful.

They talked about surgery for the rest of their lunch break.

* * *

Jackson glanced up from his work for what must have been the hundredth time since they started operating and Sloan narrowed his eyes and looked at him probingly. This was the first surgery of their clinical trial and Avery's head was clearly not in the game.

"What's going on?" The older plastic surgeon finally asked.

"What do you mean?" Jackson countered.

"You're distracted," he stated simply. "What's going on?"

"It's April," he confessed. "She's shutting me out."

"Giving ya the cold shoulder, huh?" Sloan jested.

"Actually," Jackson replied, "She hasn't been able to keep her hands off me."

"Ah," Sloan responded knowingly. "She's playing dirty."

Jackson couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose she is."

"Women have been known to do that," he laughed. "Do you know what's bothering her?"

He nodded, "I think so. A woman that I used to date was at the gala in Boston. She talked to April and I'm not sure what she said to her."

"Well, who is this woman?" Sloan asked nosily.

"We dated in med school for a couple months. Our families know each other," he explained in disinterest. "They thought we were gonna get married but I never gave her that impression so I broke things off and moved to Seattle. She's nothing like April. She can be rather mean and underhanded but she puts on a good show."

"Shit Avery," Sloan whistled. It was widely known that Kepner didn't exactly have the highest self-esteem so he couldn't imagine her taking something like that well. "And she's not talking to you about it?" Avery shook his head so he made a suggestion. "Just confront her. Ask her what's going on. Get her to tell you if meeting this chick upset her."

"Yeah, like I haven't tried that," he replied sarcastically. "She keeps seducing me."

Sloan looked his protégé squarely in the eyes and scolded, "Man up Avery!"

* * *

Jackson tentatively stepped into the laundry room and watched April toss some clothes into the washer.

"How was your day, babe?" He asked after a moment.

April looked over her shoulder and shot him a smile. "It was good. How about you?"

"Good," he nodded as he walked further into the room. "It was good," he repeated. "Sloan and I operated on our first clinical trial patient."

"That's awesome," she replied as she threw in some detergent before she closed the lid on the washer and spun around to face him. "The surgery went well?"

"Yeah, it went great but we won't know the exact result until tomorrow."

She slipped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to her. "That's exciting," she grinned.

"Anything exciting happen to you today?" He began cautiously. "Anything you want to talk about?"

She shook her head as she dropped one of her hands to his butt and gave his flesh a firm squeeze. "Nope," she smiled mischievously. "I can't say that there's much I want to talk about."

"April—" He began but the rest of his words were muffled when she covered his mouth with her own. He knew what she was doing, she had been doing it for days, but he was powerless to stop her. Her hands were already underneath his t-shirt, touching his bare back, and her tongue was deliciously invading his mouth. She was way too good at this now and he was partially to blame.

He eagerly lifted her onto the washer and she pulled his t-shirt over his head. She tightly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled against his mouth as his hands trailed over her torso.

He reluctantly tore himself away from her and tried to put some distance between them but she used her deceptive strength to hold on to him. "Wait, hold on a second," he spoke breathlessly. He was trying his best to have some semblance of self-control but she was running her nails along the bare skin just above the waistband of his jeans and her eyes were wide and dark, and boring into his.

"What is it?" She asked before she tantalizingly bit down on her bottom lip.

He groaned, partially in arousal and partially in frustration, before he kissed her again. He didn't care what Sloan thought of him concerning this matter. He was a man that couldn't resist his sexy fiancé. Whatever.

* * *

A night later, Jackson sat in bed and anxiously awaited April's return from the bathroom. They were going to talk tonight. He was committed. They were getting married in a week; they needed to have this discussion for his peace of mind.

He gulped when she sauntered into the room and climbed into bed. She immediately sat in his lap and rested her hands on his shoulders. She leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss. She kissed him again before she moved her mouth to the side and nibbled on his jaw. He squeezed his eyes shut as his fingers dug into her waist.

"Come on Avery," he murmured to herself. He took a deep, calming breath before he spoke into her ear. "April, I want to talk to you about something."

"What?" She asked before she ran her tongue around the outer shell of his ear.

He moaned and tossed his head back before his senses returned to him. "No! Stop it! Hold on a sec!"

He lifted her off of him and placed her on the other side of the bed. "What is it?"

"Let's talk," he insisted. "No sex and no making out, just talking," he spoke rapidly.

April giggled at how flustered he appeared. "Jackson, what's going on?"

"I want to know what you're upset about," he stated sincerely.

"I'm not upset about anything," she denied.

He raised an eyebrow in scepticism. "Really? Then what's been going on recently?"

"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.

"All the sex!" He exclaimed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's enjoyable, it's really great, but I can't help but get the feeling that you're keeping something from me."

"I'm not." She repositioned herself onto her hands and knees and leaned forward to kiss him.

"Are you sure?" He replied before he softly returned her kiss. "So you're not upset about anything that happened in Boston?"

"Alex told you, didn't he?" She inquired quietly.

"What?" He furrowed his brow in puzzlement. "What would Alex tell me?"

His eyes widened slightly. "Oh, well, never mind." She tried to dismiss the subject but she could tell by the expression on Jackson's face that he wasn't going to let it go.

"No," he persisted. "What would Alex tell me? Tell me, April."

She sighed before she dropped onto her stomach and rested her head on her pillow. She uneasily looked up at him. "Just about a conversation we had in Boston."

"About?" He prompted impatiently.

"Just about whether or not we belonged there…at the gala…in that world," she answered in a whisper.

Jackson ran a hand over his face as he mulled over her words. That line of thinking combined with meeting Kelly Masters was obviously upsetting to her. And Alex and Elizabeth had broken up. He should have pieced it all together sooner. "I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. He reached down and tenderly ran a hand through her hair. "I'm an idiot," he sighed.

She couldn't help but laugh. "No, you're not an idiot. I wasn't exactly upfront about any of this, I just couldn't…I…" She stopped talking and took a deep breath. She hadn't wanted to talk about how she was feeling; she had just wanted to be intimate with him. She had convinced herself that by having sex with him she could solidify their bond and prove to herself that they belonged together. It had sort of worked, but they still needed to talk about some things.

He lay down on his side so that they were lying face to face, with their noses almost touching. "Do you want to talk about it now?" He waited a second before he confessed, "It scares me when you think like that…that stupid stuff like that means that we won't last…that we don't belong together."

"I know, and I know that we promised that we'd talk about everything, but there's just so much in my head that I don't even know where to begin," she answered truthfully.

He swallowed harshly before he finally addressed the elephant in the room. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Kelly."

"Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise," she understated.

"I really thought that I'd never see her again. Did she say anything bitchy to you?"

April shook her head. "No, she was actually really nice."

Jackson rolled his eyes. So she had played nice with April and had then tried to corner him in the men's bathroom. Yeah, that sounded like Kelly. "Sorry," he unnecessarily apologized again. "She was grandfather's idea, not mine, and he got over it very quickly, trust me." Although Harper had liked the idea of the two great Boston surgical families merging, he hadn't quite taken to Kelly like he imagined he would. In fact, the older surgeon thought that she was incredibly vapid.

"And he loves me," she stated with a small smile.

"Yeah, he does, I guess we have that in common," he chirped charmingly.

She smiled at him and started to run a hand along his side. She wasn't the only one who was a tad ticklish. He laughed as he rolled away from her, onto his back, but he brought her with him and she settled atop of him. He gazed up at her as he pushed her hair out of her face. "What do you need? What can I do?" He felt like he had wronged her in some way and he wasn't sure what he had to do to fix it.

"Nothing," she breathed. "I just need to think about some things on my own."

"What do you mean?" He questioned fearfully as his arms reflexively tightened around her small frame. "Do you want to…call off the wedding?" He choked out.

"No, no, no," she repeated adamantly. She placed both of her hands on his face and kissed him passionately and repeatedly…reassuringly. "I definitely don't want to call off the wedding."

"Okay, thank God," he murmured against her lips. "Then what do you want to do? Do you want me to stay somewhere else until the wedding?" He was sure that he could crash at Sloan's for the week.

She nodded as she brushed her nose along his cheek. "Yeah, maybe you should." It wasn't out of the ordinary for couples to limit their time together before their wedding. It was traditional, conservative. She could even make the argument that it was romantic. At the very least, her father would enjoy it. "Stay here tonight," she whispered.

"Only if you want me too."

"I do," she replied before she kissed him again.

She sat up and swiftly pulled her tank top over her head. Jackson sat up as well and latched his lips onto her neck.

They shed the rest of their clothes quickly and April took him inside of her with a gasp. She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and pulled him as close to her as physically possible.

His hands held her hips as his lips ran across the top of her breasts. She rhythmically moved above him but he could tell that she was still upset. He could feel the tension in her thighs. His lips moved to her mouth and he kissed her before he spoke. "While you're thinking about things I want you to keep something in mind."

"What?" She asked with bated breath.

"That I love you more than I've ever loved anything."

* * *

**A/N: So I recently watched the movie _Front of the Class_ and Sarah Drew is actually so adorable in it that it should probably be illegal. I needed to resort to other sources besides Grey's to feed the muse, you can imagine why. I would also recommend the movie even without all the adorableness. Lol.**

**Anyways, leave a review please! :)**


	28. Are You Freaking Out?

**A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 28 – Are You Freaking Out?**

April laid her cell phone on the table in the attendings' lounge after confirming her hair and makeup appointments for her wedding day. It was a slow day in the pit and so she had left it in the hands of a few mildly capable fourth year residents. They would page her if any trauma came in that they couldn't handle and so she had taken advantage of her free time and the empty attendings' lounge to mull over a few last minute wedding preparations.

The seating chart for the reception lay in front of her and she was thinking about whether or not to tweak it before she sent it off to the venue manager when Callie Torres walked into the room.

"Hey Kepner," she greeted cheerfully.

"Hi Dr. Torres," April replied quietly.

Callie moved to stand behind where April was sitting and she looked down at the seating chart gleefully. "I love weddings," she gushed. "First yours and Avery's, then Bailey and Ben's in December, it's going to be an exciting few months."

April smiled softly. "Yes, it is."

Callie poured herself a cup of coffee as she playfully asked, "Are you freaking out?"

"No, I'm not freaking out. Should I be freaking out? Does it look like I'm freaking out?" The red-head rambled.

"Whoa," the ortho surgeon chuckled. "Calm down Kepner. I was just asking if you're nervous."

"No, no, no," April repeated unwaveringly. "I'm not nervous. Definitely not nervous."

Callie sceptically observed the younger woman who seemed more uptight than usual. She was fidgety, and despite her protests, obviously nervous. It looked like they were going to have a jittery bride on their hands. "It's okay to be a little nervous," she said soothingly. "It's normal."

April ran a hand through her hair in frustration and sighed. She was about to respond but instead she practically jumped out of her seat when the door to the attendings' lounge opened once again.

Meredith and Cristina breezed into the room and grabbed seats at the table next to April.

"What's up Kepner?" Cristina asked as she reached for the seating chart. She was quickly satisfied when she saw that she and Owen were sitting at the same table as Meredith and Derek, and Callie and Arizona. "Getting nervous about the big day?"

"Can everybody stop asking me that?" April exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air.

Cristina's eyebrows shot up into her hairline and she exchanged a concerned look with Meredith. The two surgeons looked over April's head to where Callie was nonverbally telling them _not_ to continue their line of conversation.

"Are you okay, April?" Meredith asked quietly.

The trauma surgeon exhaled heavily before she answered the question honestly. "I don't know."

Whenever she had previously envisioned her wedding she had imagined feeling excited…over the moon excited…but she was feeling nervous, apprehensive, and anxious. There was this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't get rid of. It wasn't Jackson, he wasn't the problem, she loved him and she knew that she wanted to marry him; it was what she was marrying into that scared her. She wasn't fully confident that she was ready for everything that came along with marriage. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be an Avery.

* * *

Jackson walked into the NICU with a chart under his arm and quickly spotted Karev standing over their patient's incubator. "How's the little guy doing?" He inquired as he approached.

This afternoon, in between clinical trial surgeries, he was doing a cleft palate repair on one of Karev's patients and he had decided to check on him after speaking with his parents. Karev had already performed a number of surgeries on him so he had been through a hell of a lot for someone who was only nine months old. Now that he was physically healthy, it was Jackson's job to fix his self-esteem by saving him from years of traumatic teasing.

"Great," Karev answered. "He's all ready for his seventh surgery."

"Let's hope this one is the last," Jackson commented as he glanced at the little boy's vitals. His friend grunted and nodded in agreement so Jackson spoke again in the hope of starting a conversation. "Did you pick up your tux yet?"

"I'm getting it after work," he muttered.

Jackson watched the peds surgeon as he kept his eyes glued on the chart in his hand. His grip on his pen was dangerously tight, his other hand was curled into a fist, and his shoulders were slumped in defeat. His stance was an odd mixture of sullen and aggressive, like he was expecting a fight that he didn't think he was going to win. The outspoken man had been quieter than usual over the past few days and he seemed just as unwilling to talk today. He would barely even make eye contact with him.

"What's going on?" Jackson finally asked.

"What do you mean?" The other man retorted quickly.

"What's going on with you?" Jackson clarified. "I've never seen you so…bummed."

Karev finished charting and left the NICU for the nurses' station. "I'm not," he argued as they walked. "I'm tired. I'm busy. My interns suck."

Jackson didn't believe his excuses. Karev always complained about how overworked and exhausted he was, and his interns always sucked. This…this was different. "Is it about my sister?" He probed in a whisper.

Karev turned to him with a glare. "Whatever else you want to say, just don't, okay? I don't want to hear it, not from you. You don't get it."

"Get what? The Avery thing? That's not a problem unless you make it a problem."

Karev forcefully shoved the chart back into its rightful place before he stormed off down the hall. It seemed as if Karev wasn't open to discussing the problem with him and he wasn't that surprised. They were friends but Karev had been right, he didn't get it. He understood how intimidating the Avery name could be, he had battled his family heritage his whole life. What he didn't understand was how someone could let something like that get in the way of their personal happiness. That didn't make any sense to him at all.

* * *

"Yes Mom," April reiterated as she spoke to her mother on the phone while she walked towards the elevator. She had changed out of her scrubs and was on her way out of the hospital for the night. However, her mother had called her because she couldn't seem to stop obsessing over the up and coming wedding. "I will pick you and Dad up at the airport Friday morning, don't worry."

"_I can't wait to see your house!" _Karen Kepner gushed.

"I know," she laughed. Ever since she and Jackson had moved into their house, it was brought up in every conversation with her mother. "But I have to go now Mom, I'm about to get into the elevator."

"_Okay, honey, I love you."_

"I love you too," she replied before she ended the call.

She stepped into the elevator and the doors were about to slide closed when she heard a voice shout, "Hold the elevator, please!" She instinctively reached her hand out and smiled at who was rushing towards her.

Jackson readjusted the strap on his shoulder as he practically jumped into the elevator next to April. "Hey, how was your day?" He asked with a bright smile. He was just happy to see her. Their surgical schedules had not worked in their favour today so he hadn't gotten the chance to even talk to her. They were supposed to have lunch together but she had been pulled into emergency surgery.

"It was good. What about you?"

"Great, but I missed you," he replied truthfully.

She smiled to herself and bit down on her bottom lip. "I missed you too."

Jackson fiddled with the strap of his bag again as he moved even closer to her. The bag's contents were clothes, his shaving kit, and other things that he needed for his week crashing at Sloan's apartment. He didn't want to be away from her, he knew that he would have a hard time sleeping, but he wanted to adhere to her wishes. He leaned down and kissed her softly as the elevator gently came to a halt. "Can I walk you to your car?"

"Actually I have to stop by the ER," she frowned. "I'm on-call tonight and I need to tell the residents a few things."

"Okay," he nodded as they both exited the elevator. "Then I will see you tomorrow?"

"Yup," she responded perkily. She grabbed the hand that wasn't clutching his bag and threaded their fingers together. "Have a good night. I love you." She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him and while doing so, she murmured, "Sweet dreams."

"I love you too," he stated before kissing her again. She let go of his hand and he reluctantly watched her walk down the hallway towards the emergency room.

* * *

"So you will page me if anything serious happens," April implored as she stared at the residents in front of her with as much menace as she could muster.

"Yes, Dr. Kepner," they replied in unison.

"Okay then," she nodded in satisfaction. "Sometimes the ER at night isn't as boring as you think it's going to be."

Dr. Samuels stepped towards her with a chart in his hand and timidly asked, "Can you sign these, Dr. Kepner?"

She accepted the chart and laid it on the nurses' station in front of her. She signed off on the chart and handed it back to the resident. "There you go," she smiled.

"Dr. April Kepner?" An unfamiliar voice called from behind her.

She spun around with a welcoming smile. "Can I help you with something?" She inquired politely. She looked at the tall man standing in front of her and couldn't contain the small gasp that escaped her when she noticed his eyes. She would recognize those eyes anywhere. "Oh my God…you're…"

He smiled in amusement and extended his hand. "Carson Avery. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She shakily shook his hand. She couldn't believe that she was actually meeting Jackson's father. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Are you about to start work? Are you busy? Did I come at a bad time?" He questioned nervously.

April quickly shook her head. "No, I was just leaving actually."

"Good," he sighed in relief. He waited a moment before he added, "I figured it would be best to talk to you first, seeing as my children probably don't know that I'm coming."

April hadn't told Jackson that she had arranged his father's flight to Seattle and she was guessing, based on his statement, that Carson hadn't told him either. Truthfully, a large part of her had believed that the elder Avery wouldn't actually accept her offer. She had expected him to stay in Europe, not to work up the courage to return to the United States for his son's wedding. She was happy that he was here but it was going to certainly surprise Jackson and Elizabeth. Once again she prayed that Jackson wouldn't hit him.

"Do you want to get a cup of coffee or something?" She blurted out. "There's a diner not too far away."

"Sure," he smiled.

She couldn't help but notice that Jackson had gotten his smile from his father too.

April gulped as they headed towards the exit. She was going to have coffee with her soon-to-be father-in-law and she felt drastically unprepared.

* * *

Mark Sloan frowned to himself as he took a moment to watch Avery. He was sitting on the couch staring at the television but he doubted if the younger man could tell him what he was watching. The kid was like a zombie without Kepner. "Cheer up Avery," he announced as he strolled into the living room with two beers in his hands. "She still loves you. You're still getting married. Things could be worse."

"I know," he muttered as he accepted the beer that his mentor offered him. He knew that he shouldn't be acting like this, especially in front of Mark. He was the one lucky enough to have the love of his life still breathing. He just missed her. "I just miss her," he confessed aloud. "I know that makes me a pussy but—"

"No, it doesn't," Sloan interrupted. "It's normal. I miss Lexie every day," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," Jackson managed to offer.

He shook his head. "It's okay, kid," he offered with a small smile. "I'm happy that you're so in love with Kepner that you can't even spend one night with me watching a ball game and drinking beer without missing her. It feels amazing to be that in love with someone."

Jackson nodded in agreement as he looked down at his feet. "But it's kinda terrifying."

"Yeah," Sloan chuckled, "that too."

Jackson laughed along with him and instantly felt a little bit better about being apart from April.

However, their bonding was interrupted when a knock sounded on the door.

Mark hopped off of the couch and answered the door. He raised a quizzical eyebrow as he gazed at the stranger in front of him. The man was older than he was, probably in his early to mid-fifties, but he looked healthy and fit. He was tall, had salt and pepper hair, and was dressed in a very nice suit. Something about his features was familiar but he couldn't quite place it.

"Can I help you?" Mark finally asked.

"Is Jackson Avery here?"

Jackson heard his name and so he walked towards the door. He stood behind Mark and gaped at the visitor.

Mark could sense the younger man behind him so he turned and asked, "Do you know this guy, Avery?"

Jackson swallowed harshly before he nodded. "Yeah, I do…he's my Dad."

The older plastic surgeon's eyes widened. "Oh," he replied stupidly. He looked at one Avery and then the other before he took a deep breath. This was a very tense situation and one that Avery deserved to handle privately. "I'm gonna…uh…go." He slipped out of his apartment and walked across the hallway to Callie and Arizona's place.

Jackson stood in front of his father and just stared. He had plenty of reasons to be mad, plenty of reasons to feel resentful. The man looking at him nervously had spent the past twenty-three years living like a coward in Europe, where he could practice medicine his way, without Harper Avery hovering over his shoulder and without pressure and expectations. His father had missed practically every important milestone in his and Elizabeth's life. He had broken hundreds and hundreds of promises…had let him down on so many occasions…He should be so fucking angry. But in that moment he just felt like the five year old boy who had watched his father walk out the front door with all of his bags and a sad, final glance. He just wanted his Dad.

He felt tears sting the back of his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his father and hugged him tightly.

Carson Avery laughed a little to himself as he reciprocated the hug. "Elizabeth slapped me so this is definitely a better reaction."

Jackson let out a laugh of his own as he pulled back and discreetly wiped the tears from his eyes. His father stepped into Sloan's apartment and Jackson closed the door behind him. "So, uh, you went to see Liz?" He wasn't that shocked that his older sister had slapped the man. She was strong-willed and tough, like their mother. And she had been older when their father had left, she remembered more, and that wasn't always a good thing.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I stopped by the hospital first though. I met your fiancé."

"You met April?" He asked rhetorically. Obviously, he only had one fiancé.

"You told me that she was pretty but you didn't really do her justice."

Jackson grinned. "Yeah, she's beautiful."

"You have a really great girl, Jackson," he smiled. Carson had thoroughly enjoyed spending time with April Kepner. She was everything that he had hoped his son would find, and she was a surgeon. He had learned first-hand how vital it was to have a support system that understood your work.

"Yeah, I do," Jackson agreed with a wistful smile. "She's unbelievable."

* * *

April padded towards the front door with a very confused expression on her face. It was way too late for visitors so she pulled her robe closer together. She was even a little uneasy about answering the door. She was all alone in the house and there was no one around for miles. What if a crazy axe murderer was knocking on her door? Or a bear? She supposed that a bear probably wouldn't have the courtesy to knock though…an axe murderer wouldn't necessarily knock either…

She stopped her ridiculous train of thought when she opened the door and found Jackson on the doorstep. Before she could ask him what he was doing here, he started to speak rapidly.

"I know that I shouldn't be here but I needed to see you. I just spent hours talking to my Dad for the first time in who knows how long and he told me all about how you called him and arranged for him to come here for the wedding, and about how you guys talked tonight."

He paused to breathe and April stared at him expectantly. She wasn't sure how he was going to finish his thought and she was a little scared.

"And I just wanted to come here and tell you that I love you, and to say thank you. You did that for me because you love me."

She nodded and responded quietly, "Yeah, I knew that it was important to you so I tried to do what I could." The smile plastered across his face was contagious so she smiled back at him. "And you don't have to thank me; I just want to make you happy."

"You make me happy every day," he declared.

She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the mouth as she tightly held his chin in her hand. "You make me happy too."

* * *

**A/N: So I had about 3/4 of this chapter written before I watched the Jackson sneak peek for this week's episode and I have to be honest that after watching it, I had a hard time finishing this chapter because I hated him so much. (And I love my Jackson.) Lol. He's acting like an ass. And where are these so called feelings that he has for April? So frustrated right now...**

**Anyways, there are two chapters left to this fic. There will be the rehearsal dinner and the wedding!**

**Please leave a review! :)**


	29. The Rehearsal

**A/N: Sorry for the wait!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

**Chapter 29 – The Rehearsal**

April laughed to herself as her mother enveloped her in a tight hug in the middle of the airport. She should have known that her mother would be practically radiating happiness, she had been the same way on the eve of each of her other daughters' weddings. Karen Kepner _loved _weddings and she was even more overjoyed about this particular wedding because it meant that her last single daughter would be married to a man who adored her.

Her father smiled at her over her mother's shoulder and April smiled back. "Hi Daddy. How was the flight?"

"Too long," he said in exasperation.

April continued to smile as her mother finally let her go only to hold her at arms' length. "Hey Mom," she chuckled.

"Sweetheart," she gushed as she held April's face between her hands. "You are going to make such a beautiful bride."

"Mom, please don't start crying already," April pleaded as she saw her mother's eyes start to glisten. She was a lot more like her mother than she realized, they were both easily susceptible to tears.

"I think you better get us to your house," Joe Kepner supplied helpfully.

April nodded at his suggestion and her mother's eyes widened excitedly. "Yes! The house! I need to see it!"

The young surgeon refrained from rolling her eyes as she led her parents out of the airport and towards her car.

She got her parents situated in her house and managed to extract herself from her mother's overzealous clutches. Luckily, Libby had called to let them know what time her and the rest of the Kepner family would be arriving in Seattle, and while her mother was on the phone, April saw the perfect opportunity to slip away to work.

She arrived at the hospital and changed into her scrubs before heading to the attendings' lounge to get a cup of coffee.

"Is the whole clan here yet?" Alex chimed through a mouth full of cereal when she entered the room.

"Not yet," she replied, "but they will be by three o'clock."

Alex scratched his chin thoughtfully before he asked, "Are any of your sisters single?"

"Nope," she answered quickly.

"What about cousins? You have any hot, single cousins?"

April joined Alex at the table and fixed him with an unimpressed facial expression. "You are not going to be on the prowl at my wedding."

He rolled his eyes and frowned. "You ruin everything, Kepner."

She paused for a moment to take a sip from her cup of coffee before she spoke tentatively. "Sleeping with people you don't care about isn't going to help you get over Elizabeth." She had heard rumors around the hospital that he had lapsed back into his old ways; apparently he was sleeping with some of the interns.

"Don't knock it til ya try it," he retorted crassly.

"Alex," she stated his name softly.

Their potentially momentous conversation was interrupted when Cristina breezed into the room with a purpose. The brunette set a chart down in front of April and told her, "I need an assist on a really cool case. I could have asked Owen but since you're getting married tomorrow and all," she trailed off.

The red-head's eyes widened eagerly as she glanced over the chart. This _was_ a really cool case. "Aww, thank you Cristina."

"Consider it a wedding present."

April smiled at her normally closed off friend. It was always nice to see the unselfish side of the talented cardio surgeon. "Thanks!"

Cristina shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't mention it. Now, let's go."

April enthusiastically hopped out of her chair, taking the chart with her, and followed Cristina out of the room. However, before she left, she gave Alex one last meaningful glance. She didn't want him to wallow but she didn't want him sleeping around the whole hospital either.

* * *

Over lunch, Mark accompanied Jackson to the jewellery store to pick up the wedding bands.

"When is Mrs. Dr. Avery getting in?" Mark asked conversationally.

"She's already here," Jackson replied. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his scrub pants and patiently waited for the woman behind the counter to retrieve his order. "She's at the house with April's parents right now."

"Probably telling them embarrassing stories about you," Mark chuckled.

Jackson agreed with a curt nod. "Yeah, most likely." He had explicitly told his mother not to talk about his and April's sex life around the Kepners but he wasn't sure if he could even trust her to do that. Catherine Avery was a force of nature; she might be a little too much for April's sweet mother and down-to-earth father. He probably should have had the forethought to be present for when his mother met his future in-laws. He immediately turned to Sloan with a slightly panicked expression. "Do you think that you can cover my surgery this afternoon?"

"Is this a best man duty?" The older man inquired with a keen grin.

"Very much so."

If he took the afternoon off then he could supervise his mother, pick the rest of April's family up from the airport, and be at the house when the caterers arrived to set up for the rehearsal dinner. He knew that April was in surgery and he wanted to keep her relaxed, so he was willing to perform the small duties.

"Even better," he began after a moment, "get April to scrub in with you."

"Good move, Avery," Mark approved as he patted the younger man on the back. "Very slick."

The jewellery store employee returned and placed a simple black box containing the wedding bands on the glass countertop. "Here you go, and that inscription is really cute by the way."

Jackson smiled to himself as he opened the box and picked up one of the rings. He brought it up to his eyelevel to inspect it and it looked even better than he had imagined. He had thought long and hard about the inscription and what he had come up with was perfect for him and April.

Mark grabbed the other wedding band and read the inscription aloud, "Just me and you. You're like the sweetest guy ever, Avery," he teased.

Jackson ignored his statement and seriously replied, "Guard those with your life, Sloan, and I'll see you at the rehearsal tonight."

* * *

After the ceremony rehearsal, family and close friends gathered at April and Jackson's house for dinner. They had a buffet set up and their house was spacious enough that everyone could mingle comfortably. Their families were blending about as well as they had expected, they were from two very different worlds after all. Catherine and Karen were gelling quite well and Ben was asking Harper tonnes of questions about cardio that he was happy to answer. April's other brothers-in-law were pleasantly chatting with Sloan, Derek and Meredith, hoping to get some dirt on her, while her sisters talked to Brooks and Melanie.

Everyone seemed to be in very high spirits except for Alex and Elizabeth. Alex was hanging out in the kitchen, next to the alcohol, and Elizabeth was uncomfortable around her father so she kept Cristina close and they talked about work.

Eventually though, Cristina stepped away to talk to Owen and Elizabeth wandered into the kitchen to get another glass of wine.

She smiled weakly at the kitchen's lone occupant, Alex. "Hey," she said quietly.

He responded with a nod before returning his attention to the beer in his hand. When she turned her back to him, he silently eyed her. She didn't seem like herself. "You okay?"

"Yup," she answered abruptly in a voice that left no room for any more questions.

"You sure?" He bravely inquired.

She emphatically nodded her head while the hand that was holding her wine glass shook uncontrollably.

Alex moved towards her and gently pried the glass from her hand. "You sure?" He asked again.

"It's my Dad," she finally said.

He looked at her understandingly, he knew all that there was to know about deadbeat fathers. He was an expert. He knew that she wasn't taking Carson Avery's return half as well as Jackson but he hadn't expected her to be this upset. He had never seen her like this before. He waited a moment before he raised a hand to rub her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

She glanced at him with a smile. "Thanks Alex."

"No problem," he shrugged. "I just get it…ya know…"

"Yeah, I know that you do," she whispered. "Wanna get outta here?"

He finished the last of his beer and laid the empty bottle on the kitchen counter. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Jackson sidled up to his fiancé with a grin and placed a hand on the small of her back. She looked so beautiful in a simple, blue, cocktail dress that he couldn't even picture how gorgeous she was going to look tomorrow. "Hey," he whispered in her ear.

She spun around and faced him with a smile. "Hi! Thank you so much for organizing this and supervising our parents," she said in a low voice.

"No problem, it was actually kinda nice to take the afternoon off."

"Did you orchestrate surgeries for me today?" She looked at him mischievously as she took a sip from her wine glass.

"Just the one," he answered honestly. "Why? How many did you get?"

"Three!" She grinned. She had worked on cases with Cristina, Sloan, and Torres today. She knew that they were all trying to keep her mind off of the wedding but she had not minded their motivation because it had been a wonderful stress reliever.

He smiled at her exuberance as he leaned down to whisper in her ear again. "Can I steal you away for a second?"

She nodded before she followed him out of the living room and away from all of their guests.

Jackson closed and locked the bedroom door behind him before he turned to April with a bright smile. "How are you feeling? Overwhelmed?" He inquired as he stepped up to her and started to run his hands up and down her arms.

"No," she smiled. "I feel good. What about you? Do you need to talk to me about something?" She thought that it was a little curious that he had pulled her away while everybody was still in their house.

"No," he grinned as he dropped his hands down to hers and threaded their fingers together. "I just wanted to be alone for a little while."

To him it felt like forever since they had gotten a little privacy. He had been trying to lure her to on-call rooms all week but he had a lot on his plate and the ER had been busier than usual recently. They talked every night on the phone before they went to bed but the separation was killing him. He couldn't wait until tomorrow. He wasn't sure if he was more excited for the wedding or the wedding night.

"Oh, I see," she smiled knowingly. "You wanna make out, don't you?"

He shot her a playful grin as he pushed her back towards their bed. "Like a junior on prom night."

She giggled as she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him down next to her. "This is your last night as a single guy," she stated before she kissed him. "Any regrets?"

He shook his head before he brought a hand up to hold her face. "Not at all," he murmured against her lips. "What about you?"

"I really wish that I had slept with Dr. Shepherd." Jackson pulled away from her with a look of horror on his face and she burst out into laughter. "I'm kidding, Jackson!"

"That's not funny," he replied petulantly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. "Sorry," she apologized through giggles.

Jackson looked at her crossly for as long as he could before he caved and was physically incapable of repressing his smile any longer. He kissed her lovingly and while doing so, the hand that he had on her knee began to slowly sneak under her dress.

"What are you doing?" April asked as he dropped his mouth to her neck.

"I'm gonna kiss that spot on your neck that drives you nuts," he declared excitedly.

She chuckled breathlessly as she elaborated, "No, I mean, your hand, what is it doing?"

He trailed his mouth down her neck and back up again. He pulled away only so that he could look her in the eye. "We can fool around a little, right?" He asked fearfully.

She shook her head as she ran her hands down the front of his shirt. "It's bad luck."

"Huh," Jackson sighed. "Does that mean that you're not going to let me see you tomorrow either?" She shook her head once again and he frowned. "Well then." He let himself fall back onto the bed and he looked up at her with a naughty smirk. "How about I just watch? Is that bad luck?"

"Jackson!" She chastised as she gently smacked his chest. She hopped off of the bed and attempted to pull him to his feet. "Come on, I think it's time we head back to the party."

* * *

After Jackson and April thanked their family and friends for all of their support, most of the guests left so that the bride and groom could get to bed early.

Jackson, however, was reluctant to let go of April's hand as they stood together on the patio.

"Come on Avery!" The best man called as he leaned on the hood of his car.

"One second," Jackson yelled over his shoulder. He turned back to April and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

She giggled against his lips as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "We're making out in front of Mark Sloan and my parents." She knew that at least her mother was spying on them through the window. Her father probably didn't want the mental image.

He threaded a hand through her hair in order to keep her close. "It's okay, we're practically married," he quipped.

She laughed again before their lips joined. "I can't wait."

"I'll take good care of him, Kepner. Just let him go!" Mark attempted to interrupt them once again but they ignored him.

"Me either," he agreed. "I can't wait to make you Mrs. Avery."

She kissed him one more time before she pulled away and took a step backwards. "I will see you tomorrow," she whispered.

"Can't wait," he grinned. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep tonight, he felt so full of energy.

"I will be the one in white," she joked lamely.

He chuckled. "I will see you tomorrow, beautiful. I love you."

"I love you too, Jackson," she smiled.

He grabbed her hand and gave it a quick kiss before he headed towards Mark's car.

She timidly waved goodbye to him before she spun around and walked back into the house.

"You should get your beauty rest, honey," her mother told her softly.

April nodded as she placed a hand on her abdomen. All of a sudden, she felt that uncomfortable sensation in her stomach again.

* * *

**A/N: Since this was the second last chapter, I decided to give Alex and Elizabeth their own scene. Let me know what you thought of it! And leave a review if you're excited about the wedding! :)**

**P.S. If the paramedic they're bringing in isn't for April, I may lose it. Lol.**


	30. I Do…Right?

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I agonized over this chapter because I wanted it to be as good as you guys expect it to be. So I hope that it is! Enjoy!**

**Link to April's wedding dress: **

**Just take out the brackets!**

**P.S. How cute is Jesse Williams' calling them Apple Jacks? :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's.**

* * *

**Chapter 30 – I Do…Right?**

April awoke to the shrill ringing of her alarm clock and she energetically turned it off and hopped out of bed.

Today was the day. Today was her wedding day. Not so long ago this day had seemed very far away, unattainable even, but now it was here. She was getting married today. She was marrying Jackson _today_.

A smile graced her face as she thought of her fiancé and she let out a small, girlish giggle. She grabbed her phone off of the bedside table and sent him a quick text to say good morning.

After going to the bathroom and grabbing her robe, she headed to the kitchen where her mother already had breakfast prepared. She looked out the window and saw that her father was enjoying the morning on the patio.

"Hi sweetie," Karen smiled. "I made your favourite."

April smiled brightly and kissed her mother on the cheek before she accepted the plate of banana pancakes. "Thank you."

"How are you feeling?" Her mother asked with a wide, happy smile.

"Good," she replied shyly. "Excited."

Her cell phone vibrated next to her glass of orange juice and she read Jackson's response with an irrepressible grin.

_Good morning! See you soon!_

"Is that Jackson?" Karen inquired. Her daughter nodded and she continued to smile. April really was in love and it made her indescribably happy. She and Joe had always worried about their second child a little more than the rest but they had been able to relax since she had developed a close friendship with Jackson Avery, and now she was marrying him. Things had worked out perfectly.

"Talking to him is making me less nervous," April confessed in a murmur. "He's keeping me grounded."

"That's very sweet."

April opened her mouth to tell her mother just how nervous she really was when her three sisters burst through her front door and started chattering excitedly.

"We're here!" Alice announced energetically.

"Yes!" Libby seconded with a grin. "We're here for the last Kepner wedding!"

April smiled as her older sister affectionately kissed the top of her head. "Good morning, guys."

"How's the bride?" Kimmy asked as she squeezed her sister's shoulder.

"Great, just great." April glanced at the clock on the stove before she added, "I'm going to get in the bath. The hairdressers should be here in an hour."

* * *

The hairdressers and makeup artists arrived precisely on time and it seemed like before April knew it, she was standing in their master bedroom in her wedding dress. She couldn't seem to stop looking at herself in the mirror, and it wasn't out of vanity, it was all just so surreal.

Her hair and makeup were done. She was wearing high heel shoes and the white dress. She was actually getting married. It was going to happen.

A knock sounded at the door and she quietly answered, "Come in."

Libby entered the room in her blue bridesmaid's dress and gasped, "April, you look beautiful."

"Thank you."

The older woman walked towards her sister with a smile. "We're all ready to go but I have to give you something first."

She opened the black velvet box in her hands and showed April what was inside of it. "Mom's necklace," the red-head whispered in awe.

Libby nodded with a smile. "The one she wore when she married Dad. She gave it to me when I married Paul, and Kimmy and Alice both wore it when they got married. Now it's your turn," she practically squealed.

April gently picked the necklace up out of the box as tears pricked the back of her eyes. Her mother and her sisters had all worn this necklace on their wedding day and they were all in very happy marriages. It was a good luck charm of sorts and the tradition was comforting. "Thank you," she whispered tearfully.

"Don't cry," Libby chuckled as she took the necklace out of April's hands and clasped it around her neck. "You'll ruin your makeup," she chided. She gave her little sister a tight hug before she stated, "Okay, so that's your something old and something borrowed. Your dress is new. Do you have anything blue?" She inquired somewhat frantically.

April blushed, "My garter."

"Sexy," Libby grinned.

Her face reddened even further and she petulantly muttered, "Shut up."

"It's not like Mr. Gorgeous hasn't seen it all before," Kimmy butted in as she breezed into the room.

"We haven't been together in a while," April argued defensively.

Kimmy raised a sceptical eyebrow. "What's a while for you two? A day?" She teased.

"It's been a week," April shot back.

The two other Kepner women exchanged a look before they laughed. "You two aren't going to leave the bedroom on your honeymoon."

* * *

"So where are you guys staying tonight?" Brooks asked curiously as he straightened the sleeves of his tuxedo and looked around the room of the church that they were getting ready in.

"Avery doesn't care as long as there's a bed," Sloan joked. "Actually, a bed probably isn't even necessary."

Jackson grinned to himself as he worked on his tie. His mentor definitely had a point. "I rented a very nice hotel room…with a giant bed and Jacuzzi bathtub," he added.

Sloan laughed triumphantly, "See, and frankly, it'll be nice to have you out of my apartment."

"Honeymoons have to be the only perk of marriage," Karev mumbled grumpily.

Jackson turned around and fixed his friend with a hard stare. "Could you try to be a little less pessimistic on my wedding day?"

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "This suit is itchy, is all."

Jackson observed him curiously as he furrowed his brow. "Does anything else have you in a mood?"

"Nope," he answered quickly.

"Okay then," Jackson replied slowly. "Try to cheer up a little for me."

Alex smiled ruefully. "Sorry, man. I am happy for you and Kepner, really."

Jackson could hear the rare note of sincerity in his voice. "Thanks Karev."

He nodded before he resumed fiddling with his wardrobe. He wasn't really grumpy, just a little frustrated. He and Elizabeth had spent the night together yet he had found his bed empty this morning. He knew that he had to see her at some point today but he didn't want there to be a scene at his friends' wedding. He just wanted to figure out what the hell was happening between the two of them.

As if on cue, there was a sharp knock on the door before Elizabeth poked her head inside.

"Can I talk to my little brother for a minute?"

The three groomsmen left the room to give the two Averys some privacy. Jackson had expected to have some one-on-one time with his sister today. He had already received pep talks, advice, and words of love and encouragement from both of his parents. But this was Elizabeth, she was liable to hand him the keys to a getaway car and a roadmap of Canada.

"You look really nice," he smiled as he looked at her in her dark purple dress.

"You don't look too bad yourself."

She approached him and started to take over working on his tie without a word.

"So, are you and Dad okay?" He winced as she bristled defensively at his words. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

"It's okay," she shrugged. "I'll yell at you and April later. But you're happy that he's here and it's your day, so I'll just deal with it."

He smirked, "That's very mature of you Liz."

She responded to him with an unpleasant expression. "You always think you're so funny."

He chuckled as she finished tying his tie and took a step backwards. "Thanks," he whispered softly as he sized himself up in the stand-up mirror.

"Are you nervous?"

"Not at all," he turned towards her and answered positively.

Elizabeth looked at her younger brother with admiration. "You've always been _so_ sure. I've always envied that about you," she admitted quietly.

"What?" He asked in confusion. "What do you mean?" He had never seen his sister unsure about any decision in her life.

"You were so sure about plastics. You're so sure about April. I've never felt that way about something. I've never really had a serious relationship and I only went into cardio because of Grandpa, you know that."

He nodded in understanding. "I just started doing things that make me happy," he smiled. "And I stopped doing what other people wanted me to do. It's not that big of a secret."

"You're the brave one," she smiled dejectedly. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck, I'm really happy for you."

He wrapped his arms around his sister and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks Elizabeth, and you can be happy too ya know."

She gave him one last sad smile before she left the room.

Jackson sighed as he watched the door close behind her. If being together made them happy then why couldn't they just be together? It was so frustrating. Well, he had faith that they would figure it out eventually. He and April had.

* * *

April frantically paced the room as she attempted to control her breathing. Her three sisters watched her apprehensively from their place in the corner. They had gotten her to the church but it seemed as if the change in setting had intensified April's pre-wedding jitters.

"You're sure this dress isn't too tight?" She asked them for what must have been the one hundredth time. "It feels really _really_ tight."

"No, April," Alice replied calmly. "The dress is perfect. You look perfect."

The red-head continued to pace and Alice turned to her older sisters in concern. "What is going on?" She asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"I have no idea," Kimmy answered honestly. "But there's no way that she's making it down the aisle like that."

"Why don't you sit down April?" Libby suggested soothingly.

She simply shook her head and continued to pace. She needed to work out all of her nervous energy. He loves me more than anything. He loves me more than anything. It was like a mantra in her head. She needed to keep reminding herself how much he loved her, and how much she loved him. The marriage was the hard part, _getting married_ was easy, she knew that. But then why did she feel so uneasy? All that she had to do was walk down the aisle and say, 'I do'. It wasn't that hard. Right? All that she had to do was say those two words. It was easy, a lot less intimidating than saying 'I love you' for the first time. She could totally do it. She loved him enough to do it.

She just had to say 'I do'…Right?

He loves me more than anything.

But what if love wasn't enough? She was worried about things that had nothing to do with how much they loved each other.

"Okay," Kimmy began in concern, "now she's mumbling to herself." She anxiously tapped Alice's arm. "Go get Mom!"

Alice did as she was told but not even their mother was capable of settling down their fretting sister.

They were trying to decide who else they could get to talk to her when April turned to them and blurted out, "I need to talk to Jackson!"

* * *

Mark opened the door and came face to face with one of Kepner's sisters. He had a hard time telling the three women apart, but whichever one she was, one thing was clear, she was in a panic. "What's up?" He asked in a whisper.

"Its April, she's freaking out."

His eyes widened in alarm. "What do you mean she's freaking out?"

"I dunno," Alice shrugged, "she's just freaking out and nothing that we say is getting through to her. She says she needs to talk to Jackson."

Mark took a deep breath and ran a hand over his neatly trimmed facial hair. He desperately hoped that it wasn't anything serious. Avery would be devastated. He protectively placed a hand over his breast pocket, which held the wedding bands. "Okay," he said to himself before he turned around. "Avery," he called, "Kepner wants to talk to you."

The younger man looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"She wants to talk to you," Alice repeated.

"Um, okay," he replied nervously. "Take me to her."

Mark clapped him on the shoulder before he followed Alice to a room down the hall. Alice smiled at him weakly as she gestured towards the closed door. The expression on her face made him even more nervous. She walked away as he placed his hand on the door knob and tentatively entered the room. He looked around curiously; his bride was nowhere to be found.

"April?" He called out.

"Over here!"

He turned his head towards her voice and his eyes settled on the dressing screen in the corner of the room that she was clearly hiding behind. "Right," he chuckled, "it's bad luck to actually see you." He walked towards her and patiently stood on the other side of the screen. "What's going on?" He asked hesitantly.

"I need to talk to you." She huffed in frustration before she said, "Screw this, I need to see you."

She stepped out from behind the screen and Jackson's eyes widened as a smile spread across his face. He always liked it when she wore her hair up and today was no exception. He didn't know a whole lot about wedding dresses but he thought that hers was breathtaking. Everything about the way that she looked was perfectly April. "Wow. You look…unbelievable."

She was almost amazed by the instantaneous calming effect that he had on her. That annoying knot in her stomach disappeared as soon as she laid eyes on him. He looked handsome and happy. "So do you," she replied softly. She closed the gap between them and frantically pressed her lips against his. He returned her hungry kiss and when they parted, she couldn't help but giggle. "That was definitely bad luck."

He chuckled as he cradled her elbows in his hands. "What's going on?" He whispered as he looked down at her. "Why do you need to see me?"

April look a deep breath as she placed her hands on his chest. "I want to marry you, I do," she implored. "Don't think even for a second that I don't, but I…I don't think I'm ready to be an Avery, and I don't know if I ever really will be. I'm too awkward and dorky to be charming and charismatic at charity events, and I don't wow people in the OR on a daily basis. I'm still a farm girl and a bookworm at heart so I don't know what it's like to have money or status, to have everybody know you by your last name," she rambled. "And I just don't want to let you down," she confessed. "I'm going to make a bad Avery and I just wanted to tell you that before you got stuck with me."

Jackson couldn't help but smile brightly as he moved one hand to cradle her face. She was so cute. "First of all, you're not going to make a bad Avery, and even if you do, I'm not going to care," he grinned. "None of that matters to me. I know that you have trouble believing it sometimes but I love you the way you are, neuroses and all." He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers as he continued to smile. "And if all of this is making you nervous then we can steal Karev's car that says 'Just Married' and go down to the court house. No fuss. No crowd. I really don't care," he repeated, "as long as it's just me and you."

"You're really good at calming me down," she whispered as she played with the lapel of his jacket.

"Well I've had a lot of practice," he teased. He stroked his thumb across her cheek as he asked, "Do you want to do this?" She nodded. "You sure?"

"Yes," she answered confidently. "Yes, I want to do this." She couldn't just run out and get married at the court house. Her parents would be upset, Catherine would be angry, and Cristina would grumble at her for wasting her time. They had a lot of guests waiting out there. "I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you."

Jackson kissed her softly before he pulled away and headed for the door. "Alright then, I'll see you out there?"

She nodded as she bit down on her bottom lip. "I will be right behind ya."

"Okay, I love you," he added before he left.

April smiled to herself and took a deep, composing breath. This would be easy because she loved him more than anything too.

* * *

She made it down the aisle, on her father's arm, and they had a beautiful ceremony. Mark Sloan gave a funny, if not slightly inappropriate, best man speech, they danced, fed each other cake, she tossed the bouquet, and they thanked everyone for coming and told their friends and families that they loved them. They had a wonderful wedding; it had been everything that April had ever imagined and more.

April giggled as Jackson opened the door to the hotel room that he had rented for the night. They would leave for California in the morning.

She made a move to step inside but Jackson grabbed her around the waist with one hand and placed the other behind her knees. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked playfully as he lifted her into his arms.

April laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her over the threshold.

"I'm going to be doing that a lot," he grinned.

She giggled as he set her back on her feet. She pecked him on the lips before she looked around the large, lavish room. "Jackson, this is beautiful."

"Yeah." He responded to her statement but his eyes never left her for a second.

She caught him staring and her face flushed. "We're married," she stated with an excited smile.

"Yeah," he repeated as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. "Yeah, we are."

She placed her hands on his shoulders and gazed at the wedding band on her finger. "It's kinda weird." He raised an eyebrow and she quickly elaborated, "I mean, we're exactly the same but everything's different now. We're _married_."

He leaned down to kiss her. "Yeah, I know, Mrs. Avery," he said against her lips. She giggled as she began to push his tuxedo jacket off of his shoulders. He laughed lightly as her hands immediately went to work on his tie afterwards. "So you wanna talk?" He inquired sarcastically.

She giggled infectiously, "Yeah, because I know that you want to spend the whole night talking, especially after staying at Sloan's for a week."

He dropped his mouth to her neck and peppered kisses down to her shoulder. "How about we take a bath first?"

She hummed as she ran a hand along the back of his head. "That sounds unbelievable."

He brought his mouth back to hers and kissed her once more before he pulled away. "Let me take off your dress and then I'll get the bath ready."

She spun around and he placed a kiss on the back of her neck as he unzipped her wedding dress. "This dress really does look perfect on you." It slowly slipped down her body, moving at an agonizing pace over her hips, until it was pooled at her feet. She carefully stepped out of her dress and his eyes hungrily roved over her body. She was wearing a white, lace strapless bra, matching panties, and a sky blue garter. "Wow," he whistled. "Never mind, I think you look better out of it."

She blushed as he advanced predatorily towards her. Her knees hit the edge of the bed and she tentatively perched herself on the mattress. Their lips met in a searing kiss and he went down onto his knees so that they were at the same level. He ran both of his hands down her smooth calves before he pulled her shoes off of her feet.

"Have I ever told you how much I like you in a suit?" She asked with a laugh as she started to unbutton his crisp, white shirt.

"I look much better out of it," he joked.

She giggled but her breath hitched when his fingers caressed the skin of her upper thigh above her garter. His eyes turned dark and intense and she fought the urge to shy away from his heated gaze. "What is it?" She asked in a breathy whisper.

"This is ridiculously sexy."

"Its tradition," she replied.

"Love tradition," he growled. He tantalizingly pulled the garter down her leg and off of her foot, his fingers dragging along her soft skin the entire time.

She placed both of her hands on his face and kissed him before she said, "Go get the bath ready and I'll be there in a second."

He gazed at her with a smile before he reluctantly moved away from her and headed into the bathroom. They had set things up exactly as he had requested. There were bath salts, rose petals, scented candles, and champagne on ice.

He ran the bath and lit all of the candles before removing his clothes. He neatly folded his shirt and pants and laid them on top of the toilet seat. He turned out the lights, slipped into the hot water, and patiently waited for his wife. _Wife_. He grinned to himself at the mere thought of the word.

April Kepner was his wife now. Just four months ago he had been in this same exact situation in their old apartment, waiting in the tub, and they had been talking about when and where they wanted to get married. Just one month before that they had made love for the first time and taken their Boards. And just days before that they had been just friends.

It seemed like a previous life.

April entered the bathroom in a silk robe and he smiled, "Hey."

"Hi," she returned softly.

She hung her robe on the back of the door and slipped into the bathtub with Jackson. She sat between his legs and sank into the water as she rested her back against his chest. "God, this was a good idea," she sighed.

He grinned to himself as he ran his nose down the side of her neck. "I have a good one every now and then."

* * *

**A/N: So I'm pretty proud of this story so I hope that you guys are satisfied with the ending. I decided to focus more on the lead up to the wedding because I feel that it's often overlooked.**

**I will not be writing a sequel to this sequel but I will be posting an installment with clips from their future. I already have a few in mind but leave me some suggestions if you have any!**

**I will be finishing I Left My Heart in San Francisco but I also have many other Japril (Apple Jacks) projects in the works so stay tuned!**

**I would like to thank anyone who ever left a review and if you took the time to read this story than please leave a final review! :)**


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